Illinois resident Heidi Scott is the owner of the Law Offices of Heidi Scott and of Schuyler Brown Land Title. An expert in estate and tax law, Ms. Scott also has experience as an attorney at the Illinois Department of Revenue, where she was instrumental in creating the Innocent Spouse Relief provision found in 35 ILCS 5/502.

1. WHAT IS INNOCENT
SPOUSE RELIEF IN
ILLINOIS?
Heidi Scott, Illinois

2. Introduction
 Illinois resident Heidi Scott is the owner of the Law Offices of Heidi Scott
and of Schuyler Brown Land Title. An expert in estate and tax law, Ms.
Scott also has experience as an attorney at the Illinois Department of
Revenue, where she was instrumental in creating the Innocent Spouse
Relief provision found in 35 ILCS 5/502.
In Illinois, the Innocent Spouse Relief provision is a law that protects a
spouse from liability related to a joint tax return. Individuals who are granted
this relief only owe the tax related to their personal income portion of the
joint return, and are protected from liability related to taxes, penalties, and
interest due for their spouse’s income or unreported income.
Individuals can request innocent spouse relief via the Illinois Department of
Revenue’s Form IL-8857. An Allocation of Liability Worksheet, which
accompanies the form, allows a spouse to determine his or her specific tax
liability. Both forms must be completed for each year an individual is
seeking the innocent spouse relief. However, if an individual knew that his
or her spouse was falsely reporting income or overstating deductions, the
taxpayer is not eligible for this relief.