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U.S. Representative Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) has called on the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to address problems that married couples encounter when filing their taxes jointly.
“It doesn’t make any sense that couples who file their taxes together every year need to keep the same person as the designated primary taxpayer or face consequences like long processing delays and errors. In extreme cases, the couple can face penalties or collection issues. All because they have mistakenly reordered their names on their tax filing or used the wrong person’s credentials to pay their tax balance. There must be a better way,” Rep. Subramanyam said in a statement.
“We look forward to developing solutions with the IRS to alleviate the questions, legal burdens, and stress faced by many married filing jointly taxpayers who inadvertently listed their names in a different order, or made a payment under the Social Security number of the person listed second on the form. It is crucial for the IRS to address this issue as quickly as possible to make the system work for taxpayers,” said Pete Sepp, president of the National Taxpayers Union.
According to the statement, Rep. Subramanyam recently sent a letter to the IRS outlining concerns raised by constituents and seeking clarification on why couples who file jointly continue to experience these problems. Under the Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) filing status, both spouses submit their Social Security numbers or Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs).
“However, the IRS primarily associates the Social Security number of the primary taxpayer with the return, leading to long delays or processing errors when the secondary taxpayer’s credentials are used,” the statement said. “The IRS also makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the secondary taxpayer to submit payment on behalf of the couple, even in instances where the primary taxpayer is deceased, and has even lost payments from secondary taxpayers.”
