tax records...

[Ms.Santos]

Would you have to turn in your tax records for any reason during the bankruptcy process?

[freshstart06]

yes, you will. You have to turn in a copy of 2005 and 2006 tax returns. If you did not file them do that asap and turn them in at a federal tax station in your area. My husband had to do that. If you need to amend your taxes do that as well. We had some issues with our taxes and had to amend, file you name it and the trustee did not question us on it, could be because we owe so much. As long as you are not hiding anything they do stress too much ab out your taxes, I did not believe that even though I was told by 4 lawyers, 2 paralegals until I actually had my 341 meeting. We were not hiding any assets we just had to make sume corrections, nothing to do with assets though.

[Ms.Santos]

Well... I didn't file 2005 because I made less than $5,000 that year, and then I never filed 2006 because I was "self-employed" as a Realtor and made $40,000 with no taxes taken out of my checks. I KNEW that I wouldn't have the money to pay, and now I know I'll have a HUGE penalty. I don't know what to do... I have a huge tax mess, and I can't afford for someone at a professional tax place to fix my taxes.

[tiredofdebt]

same here...because i had a hardshipt withdrawal against my 401k in 2004 ...i filed 2004..and had to pay bak $3k..same for 2005..so i never filed....i was just going to wait....and see if i had any extra $$ in 2006...come to find out..i owe another whopping $3k..so i've been taking my time....but i am going to go ahead and do both this weekend because i have a meeting w/ the bk lawyer next friday. will i get in trouble?

[Boscoe]

Ms. Santos and tiredofdebt, you both have to come clean with your attorneys. The tax you owe won't be dischargable, but the penalties I believe are.

They may counsel you to file the late returns first, then the bk. Maybe even send you to a cpa to do the taxes for you if you can afford it.

But hire an attorney - given this tax issue you both have, pro se is definitely not the way to go! Remember, you can probably pay the attorney in payment plans......talk to them

[Ms.Santos]

Man.... There goes my January refund. I guess I won't be able to fly my daughter to Honduras to see her daddy. I haven't seen my husband since March, when my daughter was only one month old. I was realllly counting on my tax returns for that plane ticket... I have to go to an appointment at the US Embassy in Honduras next spring. Now there is no way. I'm just going to cry again.

Question: What if the IRS would have owed me a refund? Then what... I don't have to pay them anything?

[tiredofdebt]

well..i dont get a refund...and i file the ez tax form....because i dont own a home...or anything like that.....im going to do the free one online this weekend..so i can take my lawyer the paperwork next friday

[biotechsolution]

40K and self-employed, if you are essentially a single parent you may not owe that much for 2006. You can get your income lowered by all the business expenses you can take, just have receipts. Mileage logs, etc. Once you factor in the child credit and if you can lower your income enough you may even qualify for the EIC. But you are still going to owe. They also will most likely file for set-off, so if any taxes are owed to you this year they will take them.
In a Chapter 13 you may get the penalties discharged but in a 7 the penalties are only dischargeable if it's 3 years old.

[Ms.Santos]

Well, this news is just getting worse and worse. I do have a daughter, but she was born in 2007. I can take the discount for being married (my husband is incarcerated and will be deported after his 6 month term is over), plus all the buisness expenses... even so, the penalty is what's going to kill me. I am filing Chapter 7...

[freshstart06]

Again, if you can't afford a laywer, contact prepaid legal or get free advice. Our taxes are a mess as well. We just had to come clean, only $13985 of $47000 will be discharged. We are over 50% tax debt which puts us in the non-consumer catagory.

[Ms.Santos]

Again, if you can't afford a laywer, contact prepaid legal or get free advice. Our taxes are a mess as well. We just had to come clean, only $13985 of $47000 will be discharged. We are over 50% tax debt which puts us in the non-consumer catagory.

This might sound dumb, what's the non-consumer category? I'm so new to all of this...

Anyone have an idea how bad my penalty will be... just a guesstimated range? Should have filed in 2006 for $40,000. after deductions, income will have been around 24,000. I've not yet filed... I'll have to contact my ex-broker (which I really, REALLY don't want to do...) to get my 1099 resent to me.

[freshstart06]

if over 50% if tyour debt is income tax, business debt, any debt that is not secured by personal use ie card cards, car loans, mortgage... you get the idea.. If your tax debt is more then your consumer debt then you qualify for non-consumer catagory and you do not need to take the means test, you can if you want but it will not matter.

[Ms.Santos]

Well, I just called the IRS and requested my 1099's for 2005 and 2006. They will be here in 7 to 10 days! I have been researching online about back taxes, and I will have so many itemized deuctions for 2006, that I should barely owe anything. For 2005, I was below poverty level for income... I bet they will use that year's refund to help pay what I owe for 2006. After penalties, I bet I won't have to pay any more than $2000 to the IRS, which means I will probably get PART of my 2007 refund. Things are starting to look better!

Thanks for explaining that to me, freshstart!

[BrianBlade]

Your husband is incarcerated? For? That would be the biggest worry! Is he out of the country? Obviously it's just you and your daughter with no income from him. When he comes back will he have an income? How much is the trip going to cost and is it necessary you take it or will he be home soon?
I think with 24K after your deductions and being only a 2006 tax year, it will probably be around $8,000 that you'll owe. This is guessing though. You can file Chapter 7 obviously but you will still have to pay those taxes and I know with a 13, you can pay them out of your plan and avoid any penalty. I'm not sure how it works with a 7. You are saying $2K but how much in deductions are you anticipating? My g/f is in sales and has about 18K of deductions on a 60K salary.

[CindyLou]

The way it works it that he is incarcerated here and then when he gets out he is deported to his home country. I don't think it is our business why he is there! This is a website on BK.

Ms. Santos, you will ONLY owe penalties on money you actually owe. I put off my taxes for 04 and 05 until late 06 thinking I owed tons of money...I thought I owed at least $8000.... I finally went in and paid a CPA 400.00 to staighten it all out for me. Well I walked out getting back 1200!! I was shocked! I pays to find someone good to help you out!! So if they owe you then there are no consequences to filing late unless they actually assess the taxes before you get to file them. I really hope your daughter gets to see her father soon!!!!!