2011 Tax Refund

[bates888]

Hello!
We filed in June 2011 and were discharged 9/15/11 for our Chapter 7.

I was just looking and I think we'll get a tax refund for 2011 - mostly due to the Earned Income Credit (EIC) and Child Tax Credit.

I live in Arizona. Can the trustee take the EIC and the Child Tax Credit? Can they take everything except that?

Thanks for any help!

[bates888]

Forgot to mention...here is data from PACER. It's a no asset case and it was closed 9/22/11.

Case type: bk Chapter: 7 Asset: No Vol: v Judge: George B. Nielsen Jr.
Date filed: 06/01/2011 Date of last filing: 09/22/2011
Debtor discharged: 09/15/2011 Joint debtor discharged: 09/15/2011
Date terminated: 09/22/2011

[tobee43]

if you are already discharged you should be fine! we got to keep ours and we got right before we filed, the trustee wasn't interested at all. there is a sticky up from hhm about the oct filing date, as the time period when the trustees start looking at your returns.

someone else may chime in, but i think if your chapter 7 no asset bk is discharged and closed you clear for your refund this up coming tax season

[tobee43]

here's the sticky FYI : a good read!

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?24853-Chapter-7-and-Federal-Taxes

[btbeme]

Usually, unless the Trustee was specific about wanting to see your 2011 return, you should be OK. Since you filed early enough in 2011, you, at that time, likely didn't have an excess of withholding that the Trustee would see as unpaid but earned income.

What a Trustee will look for is a large amount of withholding on your pay stubs. Most attorneys would give the advice of zeroing your withholdings before filing, so long as that extra income didn't burst your Means Test. If you don't typically receive a refund because of excess withholdings, you are probably safe. Refunds from EIC and Child Tax Credits wouldn't typically be poached unless you gave the Trustee a large red flag warning on your withholdings.

I see your are in Maricopa County. Usually, Trustees will give you a large orange sheet of paper regarding your tax returns. If you didn't get one, I would not worry.