A batterer may threaten to hurt a survivor in order to get the survivor to forgo a dependency exemption or other tax benefits. An abusive intimate partner may steal from a taxpayer’s account and said theft may support a theft loss deduction.1 Explore these issues with your client. Advise any client who has been threatened of any available civil or criminal remedies. If a spouse establishes that a joint return was signed under duress, the return is not a joint return.2