Gross income or net?

[Integrity881]

For the purposes of a Chapter 7 petition, when asked about current monthly income, evaluating whether one is below the median or qualifies for Chp 7 under the means test, if the petitioner is a W2 wage earner. Is the income calculation based on gross income for the month (ie before withholding taxes from federal and state) or is it based on your net after withholdings? Thanks.

[justbroke]

Gross income. They then allow certain deductions for taxes, and expenses. However, just because you have, say, $500 deducted from your pay each pay period, doesn't mean you actually owed $500. The Chapter 7 Trustee will specifically look at your actual tax liability (by examining your last 2-years of income tax returns).

[justbroke]

I need to make a correction. If you're talking about your "currently monthly income" (CMI) calculation, which is used to determine if you're over/under median then the formula is...

all income, from all sources,
including spousal income
less spousal adjustment,
for the preceding 6 months),
then averaged (current monthly income -- CMI),
then multiplied by 12.
then used to determine if you are over/under the median based on your state of residence.

[Integrity881]

I need to make a correction. If you're talking about your "currently monthly income" (CMI) calculation, which is used to determine if you're over/under median then the formula is...

all income, from all sources,
including spousal income
less spousal adjustment,
for the preceding 6 months),
then averaged (current monthly income -- CMI),
then multiplied by 12.
then used to determine if you are over/under the median based on your state of residence.

For me, I did the past 6 months average, which left me safely below on the means test, but my current income (at time of filing) was even lower than the 6-month average and is/was a draw. I will start to receive some commission income in the next couple of weeks (at which time I will be about two months post-filing) and wondering if I should amend based on this. The thing is, my commission is not guaranteed, so there would have been no possible way for me to quantify it going forward on my petition. Also, the commission I will be receiving in the next couple of weeks is not guaranteed after that, so I could be right back at my original starting income in 60 days. This is part of the reason I asked about additional income or a 2nd job post-filing, because in a situation like mine, it is impossible to quantify my potential income. It's variable and could easily be even lower 2 months from now. In other words, my income outside of a draw is not guaranteed. I don't want it to look like I'm playing with the numbers on income, because I am truly not. It feels like to me there should be a more clear cut angle on this in the law, as someone like me is left wondering what to do.