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INSTRUCTIONS STATE OF HAWAII — DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION Alpha List
FORM N-379
(REV. 2007) INSTRUCTIONS FOR FORM N-379 Category List
REQUEST FOR INNOCENT SPOUSE RELIEF Main Menu
(And Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief)

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS YoumaypetitiontheCourttoreviewyourcasenolaterthantheend
of the 90-day period that begins on the date the Department mails
Purpose of Form N-379 you a determination notice. Contact your District Tax Office for
more information regarding petitioning the Court to review your re-
Use Form N-379 to request relief from liability for tax, plus related quest.
penalties and interest, that you believe should be paid only by your
spouse(orformerspouse). Yougenerallymusthavefiledajointre-
turn for the year(s) for which you are requesting relief. The Depart- Joint and Several Liability
ment of Taxation will evaluate your request and tell you if you qual- Generally, joint and several liability applies to all joint returns. This
ify.If you are requesting relief from the non-tax obligations of your means that both you and your spouse (or former spouse) are liable
spouse, please contact the agency with which your spouse has the for any underpayment of tax(tax shown on a return but not paid)
obligation directly (i.e., For child support, contact the Child Supportplus any understatement of tax(defined next) that may become
Enforcement Agency). due later. This is true even if a divorce decree states that your for-
You may be allowed one or more of these three types of relief: mer spouse will be responsible for any amounts due on previously
• Separation of liability, filed joint returns. Form N-379 allows you to request that joint and
several liability not apply to part or all of any unpaid tax.
• Innocent spouse relief, or
• Equitable relief. Understatement of Tax
Attach a statement to Form N-379explainingwhy you qualifyfor re- An understatement of tax, or deficiency, is generally the difference
lief. Complete the statement using the best information you have between the total amount of tax that the Department determines
available. The Department will ask you for additional information if shouldhavebeenshownonthe returnandthe amountthat actually
needed, or you may provide additional information at any time. was shown on the return.
Example. Youandyourspouse(orformerspouse)fileajointreturn
Additional Information showing $5,000 of tax, which was fully paid. The Department later
See federal Publication 971 for more details. audits the return and finds $10,000 of income that your spouse
earned but did not report. With the additional income, the total tax
When and Where To File becomes $6,500.You and your spouse are both liable for the
$1,500 understatement of tax.
Generally, you should file Form N-379 as soon as you become
aware of an unpaid tax liability that you believe should be paid only Underpayment of Tax
by your spouse (or former spouse). The following are some of the
ways you may become aware of such a liability: An underpayment of tax is tax that is properly shown on the return,
but has not been paid.
• The Department has examined your tax return.
• The Department sends you a notice. Example. You filed a joint return that properly reflects your income
anddeductions,butshowedanunpaidbalancedueof $5,000. You
YoumustfileFormN-379nolaterthan2yearsafterthefirstDepart- and your spouse were getting divorced.You gave your spouse
ment attempt to collect the tax from you. Examples of attempts to $2,500andyourspousepromisedtopaythefull$5,000,butdidnot.
collectthetaxfromyouincludegarnishmentofyourwagesorapply- Youandyourspousearebothliableforthe$5,000underpaymentof
ing your income tax refund to the tax due. tax.
Do not file Form N-379 with your tax return. Instead:
Spousal Notification
• If you are meeting with a Department employee for an exami-
nation,examinationappeal,or collection,file Form N-379with The Department is required to inform your spouse (or former
that employee. spouse)ifyourequestaseparationofliabilityorinnocentspousere-
lief,andtoallowyourspouse(orformerspouse)toprovideinforma-
• If you received a Department of Taxation notice of deficiency, tionthat may assist in determiningthe amountof relieffrom liability.
and the 30-day period specified in the notice has not expired, The Department of Taxation will not provide information to your
file Form N-379 with the Department employee named in the spouse or former spouse that could infringe on your privacy. The
notice. Attach a copy of the notice to Form N-379. Before the Department will not provide your new name, address, information
end of the 30-day period, you should file a petition with the about your employer, phone number, or any other information that
Board of Review or the Tax Appeal Court, (collectively the does not relate to a determinationabout your request for relief from
Court) as explained in the notice. By doing so, you preserve liability.
your rights if the Department is unable to properly consider
your request before the end of the 30-day period. Include the
information that supports your position, including when and Separation of Liability
why you filed Form N-379, in your petition to the Court. The If you filed a joint return for the year(s) entered on Line 1, you may
time for filing with the Court isnotextended while the Depart- be able to separate liability for any understatement of tax on the re-
ment is considering your request. turn(s) between you and your spouse (or former spouse). Gener-
If noneofthesituationsaboveapplytoyou,fileFormN-379withthe ally,youcanrequesttodosoifthatpersondiedoryouandthatper-
Hawaii Department of Taxation at P.O. Box 259, Honolulu, HI son:
96809-0259. • Are no longer married, or
• Are legally separated, or
Court Review of Request • Have lived apart at all times during the 12-month period prior
Youmaypetition(ask)theCourtto reviewyourrequestfor innocent to the date you file Form N-379.
spouse relief or separation of liability (but not equitable relief) if:
Separation of liability applies only to amounts owed that are not
• The Department sends you a determinationnotice denying, in paid. TheDepartmentcannotgiveyouarefundofamountsalready
whole or in part, your request, or paid.
• You do not receive a determination notice from the Depart-
ment within 6 months from the date you filed Form N-379.

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INSTRUCTIONS                                                                                                             PAGE 2
FORM N-379
(REV. 2007)

Innocent Spouse Relief                                                 Line 1
If you qualify for separation of liability, you may not need to requestIfyouwanttorequestreliefformorethanonetaxyear,youonlyneed
innocent spouse relief. The amount of relief allowed by requesting     to file one Form N-379.If you are filing Form N-379 for multiple
separation of liability will usually be equal to or greater than the   years, clearly indicate in the statement(s) you attach the type(s) of
amountallowedbyrequestinginnocentspouserelief. However,you             relief you are requesting for each year.
may still request innocent spouse relief if you wish.
You may be allowed innocent spouse relief if:                          Line 2
•You filed a joint return for the year(s) entered on Line 1,           If youhaverequestedinnocentspouserelieffrom the InternalReve-
                                                                       nueService,youwillreceiveadeterminationletterdetailingtherelief
•Thereisanunderstatementoftaxonthereturn(s)thatisdueto                 you are granted. If you have received this final determination letter
 erroneous items of your spouse (or former spouse),                    fromtheIRS,checkthefirstboxandattachacopyofthatlettertothis
•You can show that when you signed the return(s) you did not           form. Ifyouhavenotyetreceivedtheletter,checkthesecondbox. If
 knowandhadnoreasontoknowthattheunderstatementoftax                    you did not request relief from the Internal Revenue Service, check
 existed (or the extent to which the understatement existed),          the third box and see the instructions for line 4.
 and
•Takingintoaccountallthefactsandcircumstances,itwouldbe                Line 4
 unfair to hold you liable for the understatement of tax.              Copies of federal Form 8857 and your written statement must be at-
                                                                       tached to your Form N-379. This form and your statement will pro-
Erroneous Items                                                        vide the Department of Taxation with the information needed to
Any income, deduction, or credit is an erroneous item if it is omitted make a determination regarding your request for relief. You must
from or incorrectly reported on the joint return.                      provideacompletedcopyofthefederalformevenifyouhavenotre-
                                                                       quested innocent spouse relief from the Internal Revenue Service.
Partial Innocent Spouse Relief                                         This form is available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov. Your writ-
Ifyouknewaboutanyoftheerroneousitems,butnotthefullextentof             ten statement should include an indication of what kind of relief you
the item(s), you may be allowed relief for the part of the understate- are requesting, an explanation of why you believe you qualify for re-
ment you did not know about. Explain in the statement you attach to    lief, and information regarding the hardship (financial or personal
FormN-379howmuchyouknewandwhyyoudidnotknow,andhad                      loss) that you would incur if you were required to pay the liability.
no reason to know, the full extent of the item(s).                     If you are requestingseparation of liability, your statement must
                                                                       show the total amount of the understatement of tax. For each item
Equitable Relief                                                       that resulted in an understatement of tax, you must explain whether
                                                                       the item is attributable to you, your spouse (or former spouse), or
You may be allowed equitable relief if, taking into account all the    both of you.For example, unreported income earned by your
facts and circumstances, it would be unfair to hold you liable for any spouse (or former spouse), would be allocated to that person. An
understatement or underpayment of tax that should be paid only by      overstated deduction of home mortgage interest on a home you
your spouse (or former spouse),                                        owned jointly that was paid from a joint checking account would,
You can only be allowedequitablerelief for an underpaymentof tax,      generally, be allocated equally between both of you. See federal
orpartorallofanyunderstatementoftax,thatdoesnotqualifyforei-           Publication 971 for more details. If, at the time you signed the joint
ther separation of liability or innocent spouse relief. You should re- return, you knew about any item that would result in part or all of the
quest separation of liability or innocent spouse relief for any under- understatement, then your request will not apply to that part of the
statement of tax, unless you are sure you are not eligible. The De-    understatement.
partment will consider equitable relief if it determines that innocent If you are requestinginnocent spouse relief, your statement must
spouse relief and separation of liability do not apply.                include an explanation of why you believe you qualify for relief. The
                                                                       statement will vary dependingon your circumstances, but shouldin-
                                                                       clude the following:
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS                                                  •Theamountandadetaileddescriptionofeacherroneousitem,
                                                                        including why you had no reason to know about the item or the
Your Current Name and Home Address                                      extent to which you knew about the item,
Name.Enter your current name. If your current name is different        •The amount of the understatement of tax for which you are lia-
from your name as shown on your tax return for any year for which       ble and are seeking relief, and
you are requesting relief, enter it in parentheses after your current  •Why you believe if would be unfair to hold you liable for the un-
name.  For example, enter “Malia Malama (formerly Malia Aloha).”        derstatement of tax.
P.O.Box.Enteryourboxnumberonlyifyourpostofficedoesnotde-               If youarerequesting  equitable relief, includeanexplanationof why
liver mail to your home.                                               you believe if would be unfair to hold you liable for the tax instead of
Foreign address.Enter the information in the following order: city,    your spouse(or former spouse). If you are attachinga statement for
province or state, and country. Follow the country’s practice for en-  separationofliabilityorinnocentspouserelief,includeonlyanyaddi-
teringthepostalcode. Pleasedonotabbreviatethecountryname.              tional information you believe supports your request for equitable
                                                                       relief.

                                                                                                                         FORM N-379

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