INSTRUCTIONS                           STATE OF HAWAII — DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION 
FORM N-379 
(REV. 2012)                    INSTRUCTIONS FOR FORM N-379 
                              REQUEST FOR INNOCENT SPOUSE RELIEF 
                              (And Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief)
(NOTE: References to “married”, “unmarried”, and “spouse” also means “in a civil union”, “not in a civil union”, and “civil union partner”, respectively.)

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS                                                  Court Review of Request
                                                                      You may petition (ask) the Court to review your request for innocent 
Purpose of Form N-379                                                 spouse relief or separation of liability (but not equitable relief) if:
Use Form N-379 to request relief from liability for tax, plus related • The Department sends you a determination notice  
penalties and interest, that you believe should be paid only            denying, in whole or in part, your request, or
by your spouse (or former spouse).  You generally must have             You do not receive a determination notice from the Depart- 
filed a joint return for the year(s) for which you are requesting     • 
relief.   The Department of  Taxation will evaluate your request        ment within 6 months from the date you filed Form N-379.
and tell you if you qualify.  If you are requesting relief from the   You may petition the Court to review your case no later than the 
non-tax obligations of your spouse, please contact the agency         end of the 90-day period that begins on the date the Department 
with which your spouse has the obligation directly (i.e., For         mails you a determination notice.  Contact your District Tax Office 
child support, contact the Child Support Enforcement Agency).         for more information regarding petitioning the Court to review your 
You may be allowed one or more of these three types of relief:        request.
•   Separation of liability,                                          Joint and Several Liability
•   Innocent spouse relief, or
                                                                      Generally, joint and several liability applies to all joint returns.  This 
•   Equitable relief.                                                 means that both you and your spouse (or former spouse) are 
Attach a statement to Form N-379 explaining why you qualify for       liable for any underpayment of tax (tax shown on a return but 
relief. Complete the statement using the best information you have    not paid) plus any understatement of tax (defined next) that may 
available. The Department will ask you for additional information if  become due later. This is true even if a divorce decree states that 
needed, or you may provide additional information at any time.        your former spouse will be responsible for any amounts due on 
                                                                      previously filed joint returns. Form N-379 allows you to request that 
Additional Information                                                joint and several liability not apply to part or all of any unpaid tax.
See federal Publication 971 for more details.                         Understatement of Tax
When and Where To File                                                An understatement of tax, or deficiency, is generally the difference 
                                                                      between the total amount of tax that the Department determines 
Generally, you should file Form N-379 as soon as you become           should have been shown on the return and the amount that actually 
aware of an unpaid tax liability that you believe should be paid only was shown on the return.
by your spouse (or former spouse).  The following are some of the 
ways you may become aware of such a liability:                        Example. You and your spouse (or former spouse) file a joint return 
                                                                      showing $5,000 of tax, which was fully paid.  The Department later 
•   The Department has examined your tax return.                      audits the return and finds $10,000 of income that your spouse 
•   The Department sends you a notice.                                earned but did not report.  With the additional income, the total 
You generally must file Form N-379 no later than 2 years after the    tax becomes $6,500.  You and your spouse are both liable for the 
first Department attempt to collect the tax from you. Examples of     $1,500 understatement of tax.
attempts to collect the tax from you include garnishment of your 
wages or applying your income tax refund to the tax due.              Underpayment of Tax
Exception for equitable relief.  The period of time in which          An underpayment of tax is tax that is properly shown on the return, 
you may request equitable relief has been expanded. For more          but has not been paid.
information, see Department of Taxation Announcement No. 2011-        Example.  You filed a joint return that properly reflects your income 
28.                                                                   and deductions, but showed an unpaid balance due of $5,000.  You 
Do not file Form N-379 with your tax return.  Instead:                and your spouse were getting divorced.  You gave your spouse 
                                                                      $2,500 and your spouse promised to pay the full $5,000, but did not.  
•   If you are meeting with a Department employee for an              You and your spouse are both liable for the $5,000 underpayment 
    examination, examination appeal, or collection, file Form         of tax.
    N-379 with that employee.
•   If you received a Department of Taxation notice of deficiency,    Spousal Notification
    and the 30-day period specified in the notice has not expired, 
    file Form N-379 with the Department employee named in the         The Department is required to inform your spouse (or former spouse) 
    notice.  Attach a copy of the notice to Form N-379.  Before       if you request a separation of liability or innocent spouse relief, 
    the end of the 30-day period, you should file a petition with     and to allow your spouse (or former spouse) to provide information 
    the Board of Review or the Tax Appeal Court, (collectively        that may assist in determining the amount of relief from liability.  
    the Court) as explained in the notice.  By doing so, you          The Department of Taxation will not provide information to your 
    preserve your rights if the Department is unable to properly      spouse or former spouse that could infringe on your privacy.  The 
    consider your request before the end of the 30-day period.        Department will not provide your new name, address, information 
    Include the information that supports your position, including    about your employer, phone number, or any other information that 
    when and why you filed Form N-379, in your petition to the        does not relate to a determination about your request for relief 
    Court.  The time for filing with the Court is not extended while  from liability.
    the Department is considering your request.
                                                                      Separation of Liability
If none of the situations above apply to you, file Form N-379 with 
the Hawaii Department of Taxation at P.O. Box 259, Honolulu, HI       If you filed a joint return for the year(s) entered on Line 1, you 
96809-0259.                                                           may be able to separate liability for any understatement of tax on 
                                                                      the return(s) between you and your spouse (or former spouse).  

INSTRUCTIONS
FORM N-379
(REV. 2012)                                                                                                                         PAGE 2

Generally, you can request to do so if that person died or you and         Foreign address. Enter the information in the following order: city, 
that person:                                                               province or state, and country.  Follow the country’s practice for 
• Are no longer married, or                                                entering the postal code.  Please do not abbreviate the country 
                                                                           name.
• Are legally separated, or 
• Have lived apart at all times during the 12-month period prior           Line 1
  to the date you file Form N-379.                                         If you want to request relief for more than one tax year, you only 
                                                                           need to file one Form N-379.  If you are filing Form N-379 for 
Separation of liability applies only to amounts owed that are              multiple years, clearly indicate in the statement(s) you attach the 
not paid.  The Department cannot give you a refund of amounts              type(s) of relief you are requesting for each year.
already paid.                                                              Line 2
Innocent Spouse Relief                                                     If you  have  requested innocent  spouse relief  from  the Internal 
If you qualify for separation of liability, you may not need to request    Revenue Service, you will receive a determination letter detailing the 
innocent spouse relief.  The amount of relief allowed by requesting        relief you are granted.  If you have received this final determination 
separation of liability will usually be equal to or greater than the       letter from the IRS, check the first box and attach a copy of that 
amount allowed by requesting innocent spouse relief.  However,             letter to this form.  If you have not yet received the letter, check the 
you may still request innocent spouse relief if you wish.                  second box.  If you did not request relief from the Internal Revenue 
                                                                           Service, check the third box and see the instructions for line 4.
You may be allowed innocent spouse relief if:
• You filed a joint return for the year(s) entered on Line 1,              Line 4
• There is an understatement of tax on the return(s) that is               Copies of federal Form 8857 and your written statement must be 
  due to erroneous items of your spouse (or former spouse),                attached to your Form N-379.  This form and your statement will 
• You can show that when you signed the return(s) you did not              provide the Department of Taxation with the information needed to 
  know and had no reason to know that the understatement                   make a determination regarding your request for relief.  You must 
  of tax existed (or the extent to which the understatement                provide a completed copy of the federal form even if you have 
  existed), and                                                            not requested innocent spouse relief from the Internal Revenue 
                                                                           Service.  This form is available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov.  
• Taking into account all the facts and circumstances, it would            Your written statement should include an indication of what kind of 
  be unfair to hold you liable for the understatement of tax.              relief you are requesting, an explanation of why you believe you 
Erroneous Items                                                            qualify for relief, and information regarding the hardship (financial 
                                                                           or personal loss) that you would incur if you were required to pay 
Any income, deduction, or credit is an erroneous item if it is omitted     the liability.
from or incorrectly reported on the joint return. 
                                                                           Note: If you are a civil union partner, you must provide a completed 
Partial Innocent Spouse Relief                                             copy of federal Form 8857 even if you cannot request innocent 
                                                                           spouse relief from the Internal Revenue Service.
If you knew about any of the erroneous items, but not the full 
extent of the item(s), you may be allowed relief for the part of the       If you are requesting separation of liability, your statement must 
understatement you did not know about. Explain in the statement            show the total amount of the understatement of tax.  For each item 
you attach to Form N-379 how much you knew and why you did not             that resulted in an understatement of tax, you must explain whether 
know, and had no reason to know, the full extent of the item(s).           the item is attributable to you, your spouse (or former spouse), 
                                                                           or both of you.  For example, unreported income earned by your 
Equitable Relief                                                           spouse (or former spouse), would be allocated to that person.  An 
                                                                           overstated deduction of home mortgage interest on a home you 
You may be allowed equitable relief if, taking into account all the        owned jointly that was paid from a joint checking account would, 
facts and circumstances, it would be unfair to hold you liable for         generally, be allocated equally between both of you.  See federal 
any understatement or underpayment of tax that should be paid              Publication 971 for more details.  If, at the time you signed the joint 
only by your spouse (or former spouse),                                    return, you knew about any item that would result in part or all of 
You can only be allowed equitable relief for an underpayment of tax,       the understatement, then your request will not apply to that part of 
or part or all of any understatement of tax, that does not qualify for     the understatement.
either separation of liability or innocent spouse relief.  You should      If you are requesting innocent spouse relief, your statement must 
request  separation  of  liability  or  innocent  spouse  relief  for  any include an explanation of why you believe you qualify for relief.  The 
understatement of tax, unless you are sure you are not eligible.           statement will vary depending on your circumstances, but should 
The Department will consider equitable relief if it determines that        include the following:
innocent spouse relief and separation of liability do not apply.
                                                                            •   The amount and a detailed description of each erroneous 
                                                                                item, including why you had no reason to know about the 
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS                                                           item or the extent to which you knew about the item,
                                                                            •   The amount of the understatement of tax for which you are 
Your Current Name and Home Address                                              liable and are seeking relief, and 
Name. Enter your current name. If your current name is different            •   Why you believe if would be unfair to hold you liable for the 
from your name as shown on your tax return for any year for which               understatement of tax.
you are requesting relief, enter it in parentheses after your current      If you are requesting equitable relief, include an explanation of 
name.  For example, enter “Malia Malama (formerly Malia Aloha).”           why you believe if would be unfair to hold you liable for the tax 
                                                                           instead of your spouse (or former spouse).  If you are attaching 
P.O. Box. Enter your box number only if your post office does not          a statement for separation of liability or innocent spouse relief, 
deliver mail to your home.                                                 include only any additional information you believe supports your 
                                                                           request for equitable relief.

                                                                                                                              FORM N-379