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 [...]
Discharge of Debt
An illegal immigrant can file for bankruptcy in the United States. There is no reference to a citizenship requirement in the Bankruptcy Law. US Code §109 provides the requirements to be a “debtor.” The most common way to be eligible to be a debtor is to have a “domicile” in your state. A domicile “requires [...]
Bankruptcy can clear some types of tax debt. It will not clear a federal tax lien that has attached to your assets. However, when no tax lien has been filed, income tax debt can be discharged and cleared from your record if some very specific requirements are met in either a Chapter 7 or a [...]
Under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, if a debt is discharged in a bankruptcy case, it does NOT count as taxable income. Bankruptcy-discharged debt is, therefore, much more powerful than merely canceled debt. While canceled debt may create an income tax liability, discharged debt does not. See What is a 1099c and what do I do [...]
Here’s the deal when you file bankruptcy. You tell the truth. You disclose everything. You keep what is exempt. The trustee takes everything else and distributes that among your creditors. In exchange you get a fresh start. The idea of bankruptcy is to get a discharge of all your debts so you get a fresh [...]
While it is necessary to take your Financial Management course (also called Debtor Education or the Second Credit Counseling course) after you file bankruptcy – it is a requirement to receive your discharge – it’s also a good idea to wait to file the certificate until the deadline. The course is very important. If you fail to take [...]
