203: Request for Injured Spouse Protection from Application of Joint Overpayment Against Spouse's Delinquencies or Debts (2025)

Who files this form

Use Form 203 to request protection of your share of a 2025 joint income tax overpayment from being applied to your spouse’s debts. The form’s eligibility questions require all of the following:

• You and your spouse are filing an Arizona joint income tax return for 2025.
• You have Arizona income with Arizona income tax withheld and reported on your own Form W-2 or Form 1099 for the tax year.
• Your spouse owes past-due state tax, child support, spousal maintenance, or other obligations ordered by a court or owed to an Arizona state agency.
• You are not legally obligated to pay that past-due amount.
• Your 2025 joint return reports payments, such as Arizona income tax withholding or Arizona estimated tax payments.

Answer lines 4 through 8 to determine whether you qualify.

What you'll need

• Your 2025 Arizona joint income tax return.
• Form 203, included with that return.
• Forms W-2, which the form says to include when filing.
• Your own Form W-2 or Form 1099 showing Arizona income and Arizona income tax withheld, for the eligibility question on line 5.

You will also need the Arizona withholding and estimated tax payment amounts reported on the joint return to complete Part 2.

How to file

Include Form 203 with your 2025 Arizona joint income tax return and Forms W-2 when you file. The supplied form does not give a mailing address or e-file directions.

1. Enter your identifying information exactly as shown on the 2025 return. Keep the same order for names and Social Security numbers, and check the box identifying the injured spouse.
2. Indicate whether the return is original or amended.
3. Answer the eligibility questions on lines 4 through 8. Follow any instruction to stop and not file.
4. Complete Part 2 with the joint return’s Arizona withholding and estimated tax payments in column (a), and the amounts allocated to the taxpayer and spouse in columns (b) and (c). Column (a) must equal columns (b) plus (c). The form refers to instructions for allocation amounts, but those instructions are not supplied here.
5. Add lines 9 and 10 in each column for line 11. Divide line 11, column (b), by line 11, column (a), for line 12. Subtract line 12 from 1.000 for line 13.
6. Have the injured spouse sign and date the form.

Common mistakes

• Filing without a 2025 Arizona joint return. The form says a joint return is required for protection.
• Leaving Form 203 or Forms W-2 out of the filing. The form says to include them with the joint return.
• Continuing after an eligibility answer tells you to stop. This includes being legally obligated to pay your spouse’s past-due amount.
• Changing the order of the names or Social Security numbers. The person listed first on the tax return must also be listed first on Form 203.
• Entering allocations that do not add up. In Part 2, column (a) must equal columns (b) plus (c).

Questions people ask

Can I request protection if we do not file a joint return?

No. Form 203 says you must file an Arizona joint income tax return with your spouse for 2025 to request protection of your share of the overpayment.

What kinds of my spouse’s debts are covered by the eligibility questions?

Line 6 lists past-due state tax, child support, spousal maintenance, and other obligations ordered by a court or owed to an Arizona state agency.

What if I am legally obligated to pay the past-due amount?

Line 7 says to stop and not file Form 203. For this form, you are not an injured spouse if you are legally obligated to pay that amount.

Do I need Arizona income tax withholding of my own?

Yes. Line 5 requires Arizona income with Arizona income taxes withheld and reported on your own Form W-2 or Form 1099 for the tax year you are requesting protection.

Who signs Form 203?

The form has a signature and date line for the injured spouse. It also provides signature and identifying-information fields for a paid preparer.

Official sources

• https://azdor.gov/forms