I only made $900 so I didn't file taxes

[HMT]

Can I still file for Bankruptcy?

[shark66]

Why would you want to file in the first place?

[HMT]

I'm in MA and being sued and trying to protect my car. All of the values I get for it range from $800 to $1500 and in MA it would only be exempted for $700. It's a 2000 Kia that needs a lot of work (breaks and will need a trany soon and exhaust work) and I think even $800 is high but if I claim BK I can use Federal exemptions and then I know it's cleared. Other then my car which is "iffy" I'm judgment proof I believe but it is not stopping a lawsuit that Citibank has filed by way of Lustig Glaser & Wilson for a Sears account. I'm not sure how to prove any of this with the courts or with the sheriff's dept. which inevitably will come looking for it, and feel lost.

Plus I really want to put this all behind me and get on with life.

[shark66]

How much are you being sued for if you don't mind me asking? What other debts do you have?

[HMT]

In total $25000. This lawsuit is for $1800.

[shark66]

I'm sure that someone more experienced will chime in, but my understanding is that one can't file bankruptcy unless they've filed taxes...I may very well be wrong, though...

Good luck.

[SMinGA]

A lawsuit can lead to a judgement - which can lead to wage garnishment and/or garnishment of your bank accounts. (Depending on your state, garnishment is not allowed in all.)

A creditor taking your car is unlikely.

Filing now could be a mistake. I assume you are unemployed and uninsured? If you were to become ill after filing you would accumulate medical bills. May be best, despite lawsuits pending, to wait til you're income-stable to file.

[SMinGA]

PS-you will need to file your tax returns...

[frogger]

PS-you will need to file your tax returns...

Go ahead and file those tax returns while you study up and decide what to do. You're going to need to file them regardless of if you file bk or not.

[ForTheBest]

You may not even be required to file a 2009 Federal tax return.

There's a calculator on the IRS Web site that will tell you.

http://www.irs.gov/ita/article/0,,id=219890,00.html

[ryan]

How hard can it be or how long can it take to file a 1040EZ? That doesn't seem like a big hurdle to enable you file BK.

[HHM]

If you are not required to file a tax return, then all you need to do for BK is submit an Affidavit to that effect.

Or, you can do a simple 1040 EZ and file the return. It is not a big deal either way.

[catleg]

If your income is that low, you're not required to file a tax return, and you can still file for bankruptcy.

I suspect the path of least resistance is just to file one anyway, and document your income, in the same way someone would file a tax return for a child with savings bonds, for example.

As part of the bankruptcy filing, you'll be asked for your income for the two years prior to the year of the bankruptcy, so hopefully you can show some income that matches whatever you told those lenders to get that much into debt.

It helps to have a plausible story, if you're working for cash off the books, you might have problems.

[HMT]

That's right, I didn't file because I didn't have to. I put everything together to file federal anyhow so I'll work on it and get back $90. I would just need to file this year because I have zero income for 2010 and that's going to be hard to prove. How do you prove it without a w-2 when you're talking to a bureaucrat? I quit my job and went back to school in September of 2008 I had a small pension that had been started for me which is the only reason I made any income at all. I suppose I can work somewhere for the holidays and that would give me a w-2 so that I can prolong it I would really rather wait till February.

[HMT]

I just really don't know how to protect my car it's in poor condition so the online valuations are wrong how do you get a legal and accurate valuation so that I have a leg to stand on when they try to tell me my car is worth more then it is? $700 is not a high value for a car which is making it harder.