The last 2 years me and my wife have filed joint and our returns have been swallowed by her student loan debt. We now find ourselves in a situation where this return money needs to go elsewhere and I am genuinely concerned that we will be left with 0 coming back from the government. We live in Texas which is a community property state, and my wife did not work or attend school in 2011. I really just need to know if there are any options that may allow me to get my return this year. Thanks for taking the time to read my question, and thank you more for any help, advice, or wisdom you could pass on.

Form 8379 is the injured spouse form. File it along with your taxes and the portion of the refund that is yours can be returned to you. The process usually takes 11-14 weeks.

You may also be able to amend the 2009 and 2010 return with the Form 8379 to recover YOUR portion of those years' refunds as well.

Form 8379 does not guaranty how much you will receive.

In your situation why are you getting a refund? Why not adjust your W4s to reduce the amount of withholding so as to limit your refund. This way you don't have to be worried about them taking the refund.

This doesn't answer your question, but may help you in the future.