How Will a Spouse's Underreporting Income Affect Spousal Support
Should I sue for damages?: I'm going through a divorce. My wife is a bartender and her employer encouraged her to not claim her tips on our taxes (probably to avoid paying social security taxes or employment taxes). I'm afraid that the rest of her wages will make her appear to make less than she actually does. If I have to pay alimony, can I sue her employer for damages? She makes much more money than what we filed (I have a copy outlining the tips she made), but again, her employer paid her under the table for years. We rented an apartment, but I did not sign a lease for this year. I left on December 31, 2013. I have continued to pay the bills, but at this point I must get my own apartment, I cannot continue to pay her rent. We've been married for 9 years. We have no children. Again, if I have to pay alimony, can I sue her employer (who, as it would happen, is also my landlord)? :nightmare::nightmare::nightmare::nightmare:
Re: How Will a Spouse's Underreporting Income Affect Spousal Support
It's not your wife's employer's fault that you and your wife cheated on your taxes, even if he encouraged it. It's not his signature that appears on your tax return. You don't get to sue somebody else for your own misconduct.
This is not a particularly unusual situation, where a spouse happily cooperates with the other spouse's under-reporting income or business profits, and then wants to have all of the spouse's income considered when child support or spousal support are calculated. Due to the spouse's complicity in the prior fraud, there are potential consequences of attempting to prove fraud and, thus, this type of situation is best discussed in detail with a lawyer before forming a strategy.
Re: How Will a Spouse's Underreporting Income Affect Spousal Support
So you plan on going to court and saying you voluntarily helped your wife commit tax fraud, but now that you are getting the shaft also, the court should correct her lies?