When husband doesn't file taxes what happens to wilfe?

You must file your own...even as a married couple you can, and many do as part of tax planning, elect to file seperatley rather than jointly. Marrage does not effect you obligation to file taxes in any way. If a fraudulent return is filed jointly...say underreporting income...you are both liable...even if you didn't really know about the hidden income. (Innocent spouse relief only applies if you didn't know and really couldn't...but even more so...that you didn't benefit either. So if he says we'll file jointly and report 25K of income...while you are enjoying a 100K lifestyle..you should have known...and you benefitted from it...so you should pay whats due).