If you have an unpaid tax bill or tax debt from prior years, the IRS can take your refund for the current year and apply it against your old liability.The IRS can also take your refund for other reasons. For example, your refund can be applied against unpaid child support, spousal support and student loans.  

If you're married, you may have a refund due on a joint return. It's very likely that the IRS will try to seize that entire refund if either spouse has any kind of unpaid liability. The IRS will often do this even if only one spouse owes the liability and the other spouse is entitled to his or her share of the refund.

If the IRS has applied your share of a refund against a liability owed by your spouse, you may be entitled to a Injured or Innocent Spouse Relief. You may even be entitled to use the Injured Spouse rule to prevent the IRS from taking your refund in the first place.

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