How to file tax return?

[JunkFood]

I want to file Chapter 7 soon. It's mainly credit card debt from around 10 years ago and two judgments. I'm unemployed and living at home. I wanted to know how to file my 2014 tax return. There's no income and I'm getting family support. Should I not file at all (I heard you have to to file for bk), or should I file with zero income, or file and count the family support as income? I'd rather not involve my family and wouldn't want to list them as a creditor. The family support doesn't have to be paid back, so it's not a loan. Unsure if it's counted as a gift then? Thanks

[LadyInTheRed]

I the support you receive from your family is not a loan, required by a court order, required under a binding contract or in exchange for goods or services, then it is not income for tax purposes. Whether it should be included on your BK petition is a question for your attorney.

Filing BK does not create an obligation to file a tax return that you wouldn't otherwise be required to file. The BK code only requires that you provide a copy of a return you are required to file by law:

The following is from 11 U.S. Code § 521(e)

(2) (A)The debtor shall provide— (i)not later than 7 days before the date first set for the first meeting of creditors, to the trustee a copy of the Federal income tax return required under applicable law (or at the election of the debtor, a transcript of such return) for the most recent tax year ending immediately before the commencement of the case and for which a Federal income tax return was filed; and

[bcohen]

This is a non-issue. If you did not work, had no income, and were not legally required to file a tax return, then none is needed. If your bankruptcy trustee requests tax return(s) for years in which you did not work, and thus did not file, then you simply provide a signed statement to that effect.

When I filed in 2013, I had wages in 2012, so I had filed a 2012 tax return, which I provided with my bankruptcy papers. I failed to find work in 2011, so I had no income, and thus did not file a tax return for that year. My trustee requested the tax return for 2011, so I provided the statement that I earned no income during that year and thus did not file, and he accepted that without question.

[JunkFood]

Thanks for your replies. Different bk Trustees might handle things differently. To be safe, today I'm going to file my 2014 tax return with zero income. Probably unnecessary but there's no harm. Thanks again for your replies.

[justbroke]

JunkFood bankruptcy districts allow the debtor to file an affidavit asserting, under penalty of perjury, that the debtor was not required to file a tax return for the tax years in question.