If people file for bankruptcy before the receipt of the stimulus rebates, they may be taken by the bankruptcy courts and used to pay a pennies on the dollar towards general unsecured debts like credit cards. For people filing for bankruptcy before the rebate checks are received, they may not have a choice [...]

Popularity: 27% [?]

         The tax stimulus law went into effect on February 13, 2008 when it was signed by President Bush.  The law gives a rebate to all taxpayers who file returns for 2007 and who made $3,000 or more.  It gives a rebate of $600 to the filer, $600 to the filer’s [...]

Popularity: 30% [?]

My office has been flooded this week with clients with failed offers in compromise for IRS tax debt. Like most clients, they have been clinging to the hope that there was a solution other than bankruptcy.
The comparison of OIC vs. bankruptcy is neatly laid out in an article by Larry Heinkel in the Florida [...]

Popularity: 26% [?]

You can try.  You will be held personally liable for some of your LLC’s tax debts.  Examples include sales tax, and the trust fund portion of employee withholding taxes.  If you file a personal Chapter 13 (an LLC cannot file a Chapter 13), you can put your personal liability for the LLC’s taxes into your [...]

Popularity: 20% [?]

Why should your tax returns be affected if your spouse files a bankruptcy?  If you file a separate tax return from your spouse, there should be no effect at all.  If you file a joint tax return, however, you should be aware of the following:
1.  Your last (if joint) tax return must be sent to [...]

Popularity: 28% [?]

Don’t overlook payments your Chapter 13 trustee has made in your case last year when preparing your 2007 tax return. Lurking in the list of creditors being paid by the trustee may well be tax deductions to which you are entitled.
My analysis says that payments the trustee makes as your agent according to a [...]

Popularity: 17% [?]

It’s tax time again, and for people considering filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy it is time to start planning so you can keep your tax refund. A tax refund is your money, just like money in any bank account. When bankruptcy is filed, those funds due must be accounted for in your asset [...]

Popularity: 37% [?]

The IRS has become more aggressive in the Northern District of California in bringing motions to dismiss otherwise performing Chapter 13 cases where the debtor has failed to pay taxes that came due after filing.
The premise of Chapter 13 is that the debtor gets protection from his pre filing creditors, and pays them from his [...]

Popularity: 23% [?]

My recent post on the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Tax Act of 2007  entitled Home Loan Foreclosure No Longer a Tax Trap appears in Don’t Mess With Taxes.  That website, created by professional journalist and self-proclaimed tax geek, Kay Bell, is a collection of useful links, tips and stories about tax issues.  It is called, in internet speak, a carnival.  This is [...]

Popularity: 24% [?]

How spouses hold title to their home has far broader implications than the stepped up tax basis at death noted by The Consumerist. The post noted correctly that a house held in community property gets a step-up in basis on both the decedent’s half and the surviving spouse’s half of the property when one [...]

Popularity: 40% [?]