Accepted Answer

Hello,

I did a little more research and found my prior answer was not correct. You are right, the IRS may accept returns signed by the other spouse under "Tacit Consent". Yes, the burden of proof would be on the husband. This is from the instructions for Form 8857:

http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8857/ch02.html

By law, if a person's name is signed to a return, it is presumed to be signed by that person. You must prove that your signature on the joint return was forged or that you signed under duress (threat of harm or other form of coercion). Attach a statement explaining why you believe your signature was forged or you signed under duress.

Forged signature. Your signature on the joint return is considered to be forged if it was not signed by you and you did not authorize (give tacit consent) the signing of your name to the return.

Tacit consent. Tacit consent means that, based on your actions at the time the joint return was filed, you agreed to the filing of the joint return. You may be considered to have given tacit consent if any of the following apply.

• You gave tax information (such as Forms W-2 and 1099) to your spouse.

• You did not object to the filing.

• You did not have a valid reason to refuse to file jointly.

• There was an apparent advantage to you in filing a joint return.

We will also consider whether you filed joint returns with your spouse or former spouse in prior years and whether you filed a separate income tax return for that year.

Sign under duress. You are considered to have signed under duress (threat of harm or other form of coercion) if you were unable to resist demands to sign the return and you would not have signed the return except for the constraint applied by your spouse or former spouse. The duress must be directly connected with the signing of the joint return.

Sorrry about the confusion before. I hope this helps.

Expert:	JK_CPA
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Answered:	10/10/2009

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

with 5 years accounting experience and 18 years tax experience.