Longer Protection for “Innocent Spouses”?

Some 50,000 taxpayers annually seek "innocent spouse" protection, claiming they did not know their husband or wife was a tax cheat. About 2,000 are turned down because the two years allowed to seek such protection has expired.

Almost 50 lawmakers, including all Democratic members of the Ways and Means Committee, seek to extend the two-year limit. In the midst of a contentious divorce, for example, it's possible that a tax cheat's spouse would not learn of the IRS tax claim for a year or two.