Form 122A-1 line 9

[tg16]

Line 9 is "Pension or retirement income"

Are they referring to the monthly amount received, or the monthly pre-taxed amount? It would make a difference for me.

Thank you

[justbroke]

It's gross income which is the amount before tax. You deduct the taxes on line 16 of B122A-2 (Taxes). The reason for this is that the Means Test calculation of your average income is based on all income (with a few exceptions) before taxes; in other words your gross income. The determination of whether you are over or under the median income is always based on gross before any deductions are taken.

[tg16]

Thank you, sir!

[tg16]

How does the trustee verify the tax amount on line 19 is correct, our yearly tax amount varies quite a bit. Will they do a temp tax return?

[justbroke]

How does the trustee verify the tax amount on line 19 is correct, our yearly tax amount varies quite a bit. Will they do a temp tax return?

Quite easily... they look at your last 3 years of tax returns to determine whether you are receiving refunds (based on similar income or they'll do averaging).

For a Chapter 7, the strategy is to average any tax refund and add that amount back into the regular income (thereby "fixing" line 19). Otherwise the debtor will likely need to exempt any anticipated tax refund that is property of the estate or find the true tax liability. The Chapter 7 Trustees love tax refunds and will actually wait to see if you receive a tax refund so that they can take a portion (or all of it) for the unsecured creditors.

[tg16]

Always helpful information on this forum, thanks again