Tax administration IRS's Innocent Spouse Program performance improved : balanced performance measures needed.

Book excerpt: By law, married persons who file joint tax returns are each fully responsible for the accuracy of the tax return and for the full tax liability. This is true even though only one taxpayer may have earned the wages or income shown on the tax return. Under the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Innocent Spouse Program, IRS can relieve taxpayers of tax debts on the basis of equity considerations, such as not knowing that their spouse failed to pay taxes due. Since passage of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act (Restructuring Act) of 1998, IRS has received thousands of requests from taxpayers for innocent spouse relief. IRSs inability to provide timely responses to such requests has generated concerns among taxpayers, Congress, and other stakeholders. It took IRS about a year, on average, to completely process an innocent spouse case in fiscal year 2001.