Okay, long story but I'll try to whittle it down. I filed ch. 7 individually on 2/16/10 and have used all of my exemptions up and then some. My attorney told me not to file my taxes until after the 341 b/c trustee *may* not mention it at all (I'm in northern district of GA). She said to tell him at the 341 (if asked) that I have not filed and don't know how much my refund might be (even though my last two years' returns show pretty substantial refunds).
I understand that the trustee would only take half of the refund anyway, since half would be entitled to my husband. My 341 is 3/15/10, so theoretically I guess I could file my taxes on 3/16 and expect to keep it all if the trustee doesn't specifically ask for it, correct? My dilemma is that we really need money to pay a shortage in our escrow for our mortgage by 4/1. I'm debating whether or not to just go ahead and file taxes in order to use the half of the refund that will be my husband's and then be prepared for the trustee to take my half when I have to tell him at the 341 that I have filed and received the money...
So, to get to my question, what if my husband and I filed our taxes individually this year so that he could go ahead and send in his return, thereby getting his portion of the refund, then I could just tell the trustee at the 341 honestly that I haven't filed and don't know how much my refund might be. If he lets me slide then I haven't lost anything, but if he wants the refund then we would have at least gotten some of the money back to use on necessary expenses now.
Does this make sense? Is it in any way deceitful or illegal to change the way we file taxes just this year or does it look like I'm trying to "get around" the system?
I understand that the trustee would only take half of the refund anyway, since half would be entitled to my husband. My 341 is 3/15/10, so theoretically I guess I could file my taxes on 3/16 and expect to keep it all if the trustee doesn't specifically ask for it, correct? My dilemma is that we really need money to pay a shortage in our escrow for our mortgage by 4/1. I'm debating whether or not to just go ahead and file taxes in order to use the half of the refund that will be my husband's and then be prepared for the trustee to take my half when I have to tell him at the 341 that I have filed and received the money...
So, to get to my question, what if my husband and I filed our taxes individually this year so that he could go ahead and send in his return, thereby getting his portion of the refund, then I could just tell the trustee at the 341 honestly that I haven't filed and don't know how much my refund might be. If he lets me slide then I haven't lost anything, but if he wants the refund then we would have at least gotten some of the money back to use on necessary expenses now.
Does this make sense? Is it in any way deceitful or illegal to change the way we file taxes just this year or does it look like I'm trying to "get around" the system?
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