Divorce/Tax Question. Please help!

[Lydia]

I have been divorced now for about three years but when I first met my husband he worked as a plumber for his stepfather's plumbing business. His taxes were set up so that he had to pay them all at once at the end of the year. Soon after we got married he quit plumbing and went to work for Ace Hardware and had various other jobs throughout the marriage but because of his mental illness he wasn't able to keep a job for long and then had to quit working all together and was on disability for a while and then the divorce came. He had a tax bill built up over the years that he was never able to pay. I never worked throughout the whole marriage. After we were divorced I had to go to work and have been working in daycare for about three years now. The first year after the divorce, at tax time when I filed my taxes I was scheduled to get a refund both from federal and state but was sent a letter from the IRS stating that they were keeping my tax refund to pay my ex-husband's tax bill (something they have continued to do every year since the divorce). I explained to them that I had never worked the whole time we were married and that he had this tax debt even before I met him. They said it didn't matter, that I was responsible for paying it, but I don't understand why I should be the one having to pay. It's not even my debt. This was something he incurred before we were married. I feel that he or his family should have to pay it, not me. I haven't been in touch with him or his family since the divorce but obviously no one on his side is making any effort to pay it. It is now over $8,000 and the interest keeps growing. There's no way I will ever be able to pay this debt off, especially since I'm only making minimum wage. Is there anything I can do about this? I need any and all advice you can give. Thanks

Hi--we normally do not give tax advice on this site; you may check with the IRS directly; or your accountant; or the H & R Block web site for 20 dollars: HR Block Tax Advisor link --

http://www.hrblock.com/taxes/product...p?productId=44

If that does not work, let us know.