In a recent opinion (In re Uttermohlen), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a bankruptcy debtor’s tax refund can be claimed as exempt as “tenants by the entireties” property if the debtor’s spouse does not also file bankruptcy and if they have no joint unsecured debt. On his Bankruptcy Schedule C, Mr. Uttermohlen […]
Tax Issues In Bankruptcy
One of the things that most people think they know about bankruptcy is that bankruptcy won’t get you out of paying taxes. Like most things most people think they know about bankruptcy, that’s not entirely true. While there are some taxes that are never wiped out in bankruptcy, most people don’t owe those types of […]
Listing all creditors is vital to the success of a bankruptcy case. So is filing all required tax returns on time. If you fail to file a tax return you might not be aware you owe the IRS money, so it would be easy to mistakenly omit that creditor from your bankruptcy case. Even debt […]
The law is clear that bankruptcy will only discharge income tax for which a return, if required, has been filed. However, Congress for many years left it up to the courts to determine exactly what the word “return” means. Courts have varied their definitions of “return”, with some courts using an objective approach and others applying […]
It’s tax time and the hunt goes on for tax deductions to lower your income tax hit. Tax deductions lurk in the most unlikely places. If your Chapter 13 plan is catching up home loan arrears, look at your trustee’s annual report for some deductible mortgage interest. Most likely, the lender’s filed proof of claim […]
Bankruptcy can stop collection and eliminate tax debt in many situations. For more details on tax discharge see the article I wrote about Bankruptcy Tax Discharge on my personal site. While bankruptcy can be a very useful tool in dealing with the Internal Revenue Service and state collectors, it will not solve all problems. In many cases, a tax […]
