|
Home
/ Bankruptcy
Law / Discharging Taxes
|
|||
Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy -
|
Tweet | ||
|
Income Taxes and the Law Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(1) governs whether or not an income tax can be wiped out in bankruptcy. Generally, such taxes are dischargeable in bankruptcy if they are considered to be general unsecured claims. Income taxes which qualify as priority claims under Bankruptcy Code Section 507(3) and(8), on the other hand, cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy. Generally speaking an income tax can be wiped out if all 5 of the following criteria are met:
Competent Counsel Should be Consulted At first blush, the above calculations may look pretty easy. In actual practice, however, this is an area fraught with the potential for big mistakes. The client with tax issues should thus employ an attorney who is conversant with the rules for dischargeability of taxes in bankruptcy. This is somewhat of a "crossover" specialty, combing knowledge of tax and bankruptcy law.
First of all, the client or the attorney should not simply rely on the client's own records. They are not always complete or accurate, and may differ from the records of the tax entities. The attorney should obtain a tax transcript from the IRS or state taxing authority, and review it carefully. Strategies in Filing a Bankruptcy Tax Case
Date of Assessment
The date of "assessment" is critical in these cases.
Assessment refers to the determination by law by the taxing entity of the amount
of tax due. For federal income tax, the assessment is made by the IRS recording
the liability in its records, after the taxpayer has filed a return reporting
a tax liability, and the IRS has sent out a Notice
of Deficiency and the period to petition for review in tax court has expired;
or if the matter went to tax court, the decision of the tax court has become final
and non-appealable. The date of "assessment:" for state income taxes
can vary from state to state. For instance, in California, the tax is considered
to be "assessed" only when the 60-day appeal period has expired. Local
law should be determined. Conclusion
To sum it up, if the case is filed too early,
and the relevant time periods have not elapsed, the debt will be non-dischargeable.
As a general rule, the Court
will not allow the debtor to dismiss his case under these circumstances.
The debtor will have lost the opportunity to discharge the tax.
Written by Henry Rendler | ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() - Bankruptcy Estate - Federal - Homestead - Planning ![]() ![]() - Running a Business ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() - Consequences - Criminal Fraud - Prosecution - Reporting Fraud ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |