can a government agency keep my tax refund?

Complete and submit form 8379 Injured Spouse Claim, attach the required documentation and submit to the Service Center. They will process the form and if all qualifications are met you should receive the portion of your refund that you are entitled to, it will take about 8 weeks to process this from the time the IRS receives the form

In the future submit the 8379 with your return when you file to avoid this in the future

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8379.pdf

Any federal agency has the right to take money that they are owed from your refund check. That includes the VA and student loans. You CAN file an injured spouse request. That way you would get back your taxes, but your husband would not get his. It doesn't matter what state you live in. It is a federal law. Next year- DO NOT FILE JOINTLY! Or if you decide to do that anyway- file the injured spouse with it. My husband got stuck with my student loan bill out of his refund the first year we were married. I paid it off since then but he was SOOOOOOOOO ANGRY!

I want to add- in response to what others answered. It doesn't matter about income. If next year you file jointly but you file with the injured spouse paperwork, they will not take your money. As long as he incurred the debt when you were not married. If he incurred the debt while you have been married, there is no hope for you. You will be on the hook for what he owes.

Yes they can... but when you file an injured spouse document, you can get your refund money back. I am interested on what kind of debt that the VA would try to recoup from your husband... the VA pays out benefits to veterans and very rarely has to recoup any moneys from veterans.

Also, check out the below website to get your filing expenses paid for this year!

Sure. You are married. You filed jointly, getting two exemptions and possibly the disability increase in deductions. Community property has to do with ownership, possibly income from owned property such as rents and bond income, and not normally earned income.

YOUR REFUND IS NOT LOST TO YOU. Go to a library, or to IRS.GOV online, or call toll-free 1-800-829-4059 and request a Form 8379 called an Injured Spouse Allocation. Fill it out and designate yourself as the injured spouse; mail it in to the IRS center where your return was filed. It will take about six weeks to process it and you will get your refund. In future years submit this form with your return when it is filed and you will get your refund.

Since you are legally married, yes, the government can garnish all tax refunds.

Yes, and they did. sorry.