Stimulus as Income on the means?

[laurannm]

I know this will probably vary from district to district, but since a large portion of the stimulus checks have now been sent, anyone out there have a sense on how the UST is treating the stimulus checks on the means test (is it considered income)? I know typically they don't consider tax returns income (found this link that seems to verify that...http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/r08/tenness...esentation.pdf), but I wasn't sure if it considered to be in the same category as a tax refund?


Thanks

[Help!]

Included as income in our district, just like a tax refund.

[mongoose]

Not sure about the stimulas, but I don't think tax refunds are income as that is income you already earned: http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...+refund+income

[danaf]

question of the year. I sure wish the bk courts would get together and come up with a standard practice/answer on this one. BK is federal for God's sake - practice should be uniform amongst all districts.

[laurannm]

Tax refunds I can understand as not being income...you would be double-dipping since it's already included in your gross. But I'm with you Danaf....a uniform practice would make things a whole lot easier

[Help!]

The rationale that came from the UST's attorney was that anything that could be considered income on a tax return (such as a previous year's refund) was income on the means test. It really doesn't seem fair.

[laurannm]

The rationale that came from the UST's attorney was that anything that could be considered income on a tax return (such as a previous year's refund) was income on the means test. It really doesn't seem fair.

I meant to ask you, what state do you live in? Seems like you live in a very harsh district when it comes to BK

[sisterfunkhaus]

Included as income in our district, just like a tax refund.

I don't get why a refund would be income. You are getting money back that was already counted as income the previous year. That is so weird to me.

On that note, our district counts neither as income and my trustee did not take either one.

[Joe Farmer]

Simple fix for that issue?

Wait 6 months to file after receiving your tax refund.

[slam22]

I had the same question for my attorney because we had to include our refund as income. The way that he explained it was that due to the fact we are including federal income tax witheld then that counts as an expense, consequently when we get a portion of it back then it counts as income.

[laurannm]

I had the same question for my attorney because we had to include our refund as income. The way that he explained it was that due to the fact we are including federal income tax witheld then that counts as an expense, consequently when we get a portion of it back then it counts as income.

That makes sense. If you are using your taxes withheld on the means test, and you typically receive a refund, then you would need to account for the tax refund as income.

If you are using your actual tax obligation on the means test, then you have already accounted for the refund in your calculations

[santadawg]

Did anyone ever find out what the answer is to this question---

[laurannm]

I don't think there is a consensus on this...some districts treat tax refunds and stimulus as income, others (such as mine) did not

[jandrl2001]

i am in arkansas, they didn't count our stimulus check as income

[magyar123]

question of the year. I sure wish the bk courts would get together and come up with a standard practice/answer on this one. BK is federal for God's sake - practice should be uniform amongst all districts.

Keep on dreaming and hoping.