Got a letter about the Stimulus plan today

[cirnrab]

I got a letter saying I'm going to be getting some of the stimulus payment, and blah blah blah. I don't know how much I'm getting. My question is, Do I need to contact the trustee and tell him this? I mean I'm not even sure when I'll be getting it?

[Teddy]

There is a thread on this over at general bankruptcy - I emailed my attorney this morning. I think he told me it was safe but I'm going to try & find out for sure.

I spoke to the IRS on these a couple weeks ago because I had a question and she said they are going to start mailing them out late May/June.

[BKOnce]

Go to IRS.gov website, click the "calculator" button, fill out your info, then get the exact $$ from IRS.gov site.

[Cali]

Did you file your taxes early?

[phoenyx]

I got a letter saying I'm going to be getting some of the stimulus payment, and blah blah blah. I don't know how much I'm getting. My question is, Do I need to contact the trustee and tell him this? I mean I'm not even sure when I'll be getting it?

A few questions:

(1) What is the date you filed?

(2) Did you file through an attorney? If so, talk to him about it and what you need to do with the trustee.

[cirnrab]

I filed back in January, and I had my 341 meeting march 10th, the last day for objections is May 9th and that is also the day that I am expected to get my plan direct deposited, it's gonna be 600 dollars. I filed PRO SE. So do I call the trustee?

[HHM]

Threads about the stimulas rebate are mulitplying like rabits, lets try to keep them all in one place

[phoenyx]

I filed back in January, and I had my 341 meeting march 10th, the last day for objections is May 9th and that is also the day that I am expected to get my plan direct deposited, it's gonna be 600 dollars. I filed PRO SE. So do I call the trustee?

Yay, a possible guinea pig!

Sorry...

I am going to leave whether you should call the trustee up to someone else. I'm not familiar enough with when you need to let the trustee know about an asset you acquire after you file. I thought you typically just needed to let them know about inheritances received within 180 days.

That being said, if you either tell the trustee or they ask, and the trustee tries taking your stimulus payment, if you want to fight to keep it I will tell you how I would fight it in your situation.

I wrote a paper which is available at http://sigma.homeunix.com/FederalSti...oughIn2008.pdf which you are free to download an use, and even distribute as long as it is not modified. HHM and I talked about some clarifications I should make in the paper which I haven't done yet, but here's my general argument, backed up in the paper by specific citations of us code and federal regulations.



My opinion is that your stimulus rebate should be "hands off" to your bankruptcy trustee, since you filed in January. At the most, they should only be entitled to receive 1/12 of your stimulus rebate.

Although many people are thinking of the stimulus rebate as being related to their tax return covering the year 2007, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 ("ESA2008") which created the stimulus payment specifically states that it is a credit on a taxpayer's tax return covering the year 2008, but may be issued a year in advance (they would otherwise distribute it mid next year) if the taxpayer qualifies for the stimulus payment on their tax return covering the year 2007.

Since the stimulus rebate is a credit on your tax return covering the year 2008, it is actually a rebate on your tax liability during January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008.

Therefore, in my opinion, your trustee should have the same claim to the stimulus rebate as they would on any tax refund covering the year 2008 -- which would be refunded mid next year based off the tax return you should file by April 15, 2009.

Some districts treat a tax refund as proportionally owned during the tax year, and if your district does that, you could make a justifiable argument that they are only entitled to 1/12 of the stimulus rebate, since you filed one month into 2008. If they agree with this argument, they aren't going to go after 1/12 of the stimulus rebate, it just wouldn't be worth it.


That all being said, it's possible the trustee wouldn't go after it anyways. It's relatively a small amount, and since it's going to be a much debated (and possibly litigated) issue in the coming months, they might not choose to bother going after it.

If you decide to tell your trustee, or your trustee otherwise finds out, you will have to decide whether you make the argument they are only entitled to 1/12 of it, or whether to let it go and avoid the fight. If I were filing pro se, I would fight it because I could really use the money and I would somewhat enjoy the process of arguing about it.