Business Expense Question - Chapter 7 Means Test

[Cathold]

Hoping someone as experience with this one.

We are filing Chapter 7. Our lawyer called and said he had made an error and we are actually showing disposable income of $300 or so after the means test. He is looking more closely at our business expenses to make sure we did not miss anything.

My questions is I'm a contractor - so could I list my vehicle payment as a business expense instead of a debt. Under the means test we only receive a portion of the actual payments, so by converting it to an expense from a debt it would show us with no disposable income. BTW on my schedule C I take mileage deductions for this vehicle. Are any of the soft deductions allowed business expenses on the means test?

If thats not possible....

Then if we are required to convert to chapter 13 then I understand the any property taxes owed would have to be paid in full - if this is figured into a 60 mos chapter 13 equation - it would take almost the $300 of the disposable income to pay them- leaving nothing really for other creditors so would we be able to convert back to a chapter 7 under those circumstances?

I appreciate in advance to anyone with advice or experience in this area. Of course my lawyer called me Friday afternoon to deliver this bad news - so now I have to sit on pins and needles all weekend wondering whats going to happen

[humuhumu]

Missed expenses?

Hoping someone as experience with this one.

We are filing Chapter 7. Our lawyer called and said he had made an error and we are actually showing disposable income of $300 or so after the means test. He is looking more closely at our business expenses to make sure we did not miss anything.

My questions is I'm a contractor - so could I list my vehicle payment as a business expense instead of a debt. Under the means test we only receive a portion of the actual payments, so by converting it to an expense from a debt it would show us with no disposable income. BTW on my schedule C I take mileage deductions for this vehicle. Are any of the soft deductions allowed business expenses on the means test?

If thats not possible....

Then if we are required to convert to chapter 13 then I understand the any property taxes owed would have to be paid in full - if this is figured into a 60 mos chapter 13 equation - it would take almost the $300 of the disposable income to pay them- leaving nothing really for other creditors so would we be able to convert back to a chapter 7 under those circumstances?

I appreciate in advance to anyone with advice or experience in this area. Of course my lawyer called me Friday afternoon to deliver this bad news - so now I have to sit on pins and needles all weekend wondering whats going to happen

Your lawyer can better answer the question about the vehicle, but I would think you want to keep it as a personal car exemption versus risking losing it as a business asset.

Are you sure you included all of your monthly expenses? What about hair cuts/grooming, dental cleanings, house maintenance expenses? I forgot a few things initially because i do not pay for them 'monthly' but rather they are periodic expenses. Each time we go to the salon to get our hair cut, it's $75 and that happens 4-5 times a year, so that right there is approx $30/mo. We painted and stained our house, so that was $1800 or $150/mo.