Tax Refund - how much is the threshold?

[StaciMM]

If the trustee were interested in your refund, it would not matter when you file. Filing later would only keep your case open longer. (Delay the inevitable.)

For the OP, its probably not an issue. But-if there is a wild card exemption, it wouldn't hurt to amend and claim it.

[suprdav2]

I know we're having an issue trying to figure out if we need to turn our check over or not. At our 341, we were given an "info" sheet, and on there it stated that if our tax refund is over $1000, not to cash it and it will need to be handed over to the trustee. I asked our atty about this since we usually always get well over $1000 back, and he said "don't worry about it." And, the trustee didn't PHYSICALLY mention it during the meeting. So........do we need to hand it over or not?? I keep trying to get in touch with my atty's office to find out for sure, and can't get a straight answer one way or another. I don't really want to contact the trustee directly either, and end up putting my foot in my mouth if I don't need to. I don't want to "not worry about it", cash it, and my case is dismissed..........ya know?

Anyone know if trustees send out "reminder" letters to creditors reminding them to not cash their tax refund checks if the trustee is wanting them?

- Dave

[StaciMM]

Not really sure Suprdav2-did you have to complete anything to give back to the trustee? Was there anywhere that asked what your refund was last year?

Did you file using TX exemptions or federal exemptions? If you filed w/ federal and did not use all of the homestead exemption, you may be able to exempt the refund.

[suprdav2]

we had to do some sort of questionnare that this "info" sheet was attached to, but it mentioned nothing of taxes. We filed under TX exemptions...........

I just received a reply from our atty's office. She said that she was going to inquire with the trustee. She said that we should have received a "duties and responsibilities" sheet that states what we have to do. Fine.......if it's the sheet that I'm thinking of, then why did my atty say "don't worry about it" when I asked him about our taxes???? Sheesh.............if I wasn't so concerned with covering all of our bases, and making sure everything is ok, I would have taken that advice, and ended up cashing our check. Then my case would have been destroyed. We'll see....................

- Dave

[StaciMM]

Did you file under TX exemptions due to home equity?

[suprdav2]

Did you file under TX exemptions due to home equity?

Staci,

No, we live in an apartment. Under federal exemptions, we would have had to surrender some of our personal belongings...........under TX we got to keep them all and not surrender a single thing.

- Dave

[StaciMM]

Under federal, you can use part ($9250 according to this site) of the homestead exemption as a wild card, in addition to $9850 in personal property, $1225 in jewelry, $2950 in a vehicle, and regular wild card of $925. (Each amount can be doubled for married couples.)

The dollar amounts may not be accurate-I really don't know if this site gets updated or how often the exemptions change.

Fed:

http://www.bankruptcyaction.com/fedexemptions.htm

Unless you have ALOT of personal property, I can't imagine losing any of it under federal exemptions. You would be able to use the wild card to cover your income tax refund.