I am told a law was enacted to help women that are being held
responsible for a tax debt from a business belonging to an ex.It was
to help a woman who could not hope to rebuild a life and strugle under
a tax debt please advise if possible where to get a copy of the law.

Hello attic!

The law you're thinking of is the Roth Amendment to the Internal
Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.  The relevant
portion reads:

"[...] innocent spouse relief: innocent spouses will be held liable
only for tax attributable to their income (this provision is primarily
for divorced women whose former husbands, without their knowledge,
cheated on their taxes and cannot be found by the IRS; the IRS pursues
the women for the full amount owed by their former husbands) [...]"

Senate Record Vote Analysis - Roth Amendment
http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/rva/1052/1052120.htm

This amendment passed the Senate by a vote of 56 - 42 on May 6, 1998. 
The Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998,
including the Roth Amendment, was signed into law by President William
Jefferson Clinton, and was enacted on November 24th, 1998.

The Internal Revenue Service offers more information about the
"Innocent Spouse" rule:

Tax Information for Innocent Spouses
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/spouses/display/0,,i1%3D1%26i2%3D9%26genericId%3D15036,00.html

Innocent Spouse Questions & Answers
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/spouses/display/0,,i1%3D1&i2%3D9&genericId%3D12997,00.html

Three Types of Relief At A Glance
http://www.irs.gov/forms_pubs/graphics/25757c10.gif

CNBC's Glossary sums the rule up nicely:

"Innocent Spouse Rule
An exception to the general rule that both signers of a joint return
are individually liable for the entire tax due plus penalties and
interest. Generally, when you sign a joint return you are liable for
the entire tax due, even if you later divorce your spouse, did not
earn the income that generated the tax, and did not know about the
omission of income or claiming of erroneous deductions. Under the
innocent spouse rule, a spouse may claim to not be jointly liable if
he or she did not know about the errors and did not benefit from
them."

CNBC Glossary - Innocent Spouse Rule
http://www.fairmark.com/spousal/innocent.htm

And you can find further information about the Innocent Spouse Rule
here:

Innocent Spouse  Relief - IRS Taxes
http://www.taxsos.com/irs-innocentspouse.htm

Innocent Spouse Relief Under Internal Revenue Code Section 6013(E)(1)
http://www.divorcesource.com/CT/ARTICLES/wetstone2.html

I hope this answers your question!

Best regards,

missy-ga

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