by Justin T. Pikramenos, Esq. on June 9, 2010
While most tax debts cannot be discharged in either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is possible to discharge some IRS tax debts. We offer our clients a Tax Dischargeability Analysis, in which we can look at the specifics of your case to determine whether or not your debts do qualify to be discharged.
Since the BAPCPA in 2005 some clients have difficulty qualifying for a chapter 7 and being able to avail themselves of completely eliminating their debt, but even in a Chapter13 debtors can eliminate a large portion of the qualified IRS debt because it will not be a considered a Priority Debt (Priority Debts must be paid back at 100%)
There are several rules with tax dischargeabaility:
(1) 3 year rule: the tax return must have been originally due at least 3 years before filing Extensions and Amendments change this time frame.
(2) 240 day rule: Also, tax debts cannot be discharged if they’ve been assessed within 240 days of filing for bankruptcy. The 240 day period is extended in several circumstances.
(3) 2 year rule: The tax returns must have also been filed on time or at least 2 years before the bankruptcy has been filed.
(4) No Fraud or evasion rule: There must also not have been any willful attempt to evade or defraud in payment of taxes.
* While the underlying federal tax debt may be discharged, any federal tax liens cannot be discharged.
by Justin T. Pikramenos, Esq. on February 10, 2010
Even if you don’t live in the Tampa Bay Are the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides consumers with legal protections. Specifically, the FCRA protects all consumers, not just those in Hillsborough County, from being denied credit on falsely reported information.
Credit reporting agencies receive their information directly from your creditors. Their reports consist of historical as well as ongoing information. A bankruptcy stays on your credit record for up to 10 years, but you can minimize its effect thereby increasing your credit score in a relatively short period of time if you follow some simple steps. Following bankruptcy or another dramatic hit to your credit report such as foreclosure your objective should be to responsibly create new credit history, while allowing time to elapse for these events to disappear into your past.
After your bankruptcy, you need to notify the credit bureaus in writing. You need to notify them that they need to update their records and -O- out your balances after bankruptcy. You should include a copy of your “Discharge” and “Schedule of Creditors”. If you don’t have these documents, make sure to ask your Tampa Bankruptcy Attorney You should mail this to each of the 3 reporting agencies by certified mail. Remember that these agencies are not your creditors, but they are reporting information from your creditors. Because you have sucessfully been discharged in bankruptcy, your balances have been erased from your creditors, thus relieving them from updating the reporting agencies of your new balances. All debts discharged in bankruptcy are to be reported as -O-.
If you believe that information on your credit report is inaccurate, the credit bureau must investigate the item within a “reasonable time”, generally 30 days, and remove the item if it is inaccurate or cannot be verified as accurate.
