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Bankruptcy Can Write Off a Student Loan, IF it Causes Undue Hardship

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Writing off student loans is not easy. You must convincingly show that paying the loan causes you undue hardship, a tough condition to prove. 

 

 

Criminal fines and restitution and child and spousal support are types of debts that bankruptcy essentially never discharges. Income taxes can be discharged but only after meeting certain conditions. We’ve covered these in our last few blog posts. Today we cover student loans.

Student loans are more like income taxes than criminal or support debts in that they CAN get discharged in bankruptcy. Like an income tax, a student loan just needs to meet certain conditions.

But unlike an income tax debt, the conditions for discharge of a student loan are much vaguer. Most of the income tax conditions are clear. These conditions require a precise understanding of the law and a thorough knowledge of the facts of your case. But if you and your bankruptcy lawyer are careful, you should know before you file your bankruptcy whether you can discharge a tax debt.

Discharging student loans, in contrast, require meeting an ambiguous condition called “undue hardship.” Its ambiguity means that it’s much harder to predict whether or not a student loan will be discharged in bankruptcy.

Furthermore, because of this vague condition it’s possible to get a partial discharge. You may continue to owe some but not all of a particular student loan debt. Or if you have multiple student loans you may discharge some but not all of them.

“Undue Hardship”

Bankruptcy law states that an educational loan or benefit overpayment is not discharged in bankruptcy unless it “would impose an undue hardship on [you or your] dependents.” Section 523(a)(8) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Can you show the bankruptcy court that paying a student loan causes you “undue hardship”? If so bankruptcy can forever discharge that debt.

A More Precise Meaning of “Undue Hardship”

How does your bankruptcy court decide whether or not a student loan causes you a hardship?  

How bad does a hardship need to be to qualify as an undue hardship?

In most parts of the country “undue hardship” requires you to establish all three of the following:

1. You currently cannot maintain even a minimal standard of living (for yourself and any dependents) if you pay the student loan.

2. This present financial situation is realistically anticipated to continue through the loan’s term of repayment.

3. You have acted responsibly in the past regarding the student loan, by making a serious effort to pay it and/or to attempt to qualify for any of the available programs to reduce or manage the loan.  

The Student Loan Survives Unless You Establish “Undue Hardship”

It can be difficult to meet all three of these. If you don’t, you continue to owe the student loan.

Furthermore, the student loan creditor does not have to take any action itself. You and your lawyer have to raise the issue yourself. It’s up to you to start the ball rolling.

Generally you do so by filing an “adversary proceeding” during your bankruptcy case. This is a legal proceeding focusing exclusively on whether you qualify for a “hardship discharge” of the student loan.

If you believe you qualify, you could file a Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy” case. Then your lawyer would file an adversary proceeding during the 3-4 months a basic Chapter 7 case usually lasts.  The student loan creditor would most likely object. There would then be a trial with evidence on whether you meet the necessary factors to show undue hardship. There’s no jury—the bankruptcy judge decides.

You can do the same thing within a Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts.” Because this kind of bankruptcy usually lasts 3 to 5 years, it gives you more timing options. Chapter 13 would usually allow you to avoid making student loan payments at least temporarily. Then once you think you qualify for undue hardship your lawyer would file the adversary proceeding. This could be especially helpful if you have a deteriorating medical condition or an anticipated reduction in income.

Summary

Student loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy, but undue hardship is an ambiguous and often tough condition to prove. The law of undue hardship as interpreted by the courts is constantly adjusting, and can be slightly different in different bankruptcy courts. So it’s crucial to get highly competent legal advice about what’s best for you.

 

Bankruptcy Does Not Write Off Child or Spousal Support Debts

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Child support and spousal support debts cannot get written off in bankruptcy. But is your specific divorce debt legally considered support? 

 

We’re in a series of blog posts about special kinds of debt which bankruptcy may not discharge—write off.  So far we’ve covered criminal fines and restitution, and income taxes.

Child and spousal support are more like criminal debts than like income taxes. Bankruptcy simply does not discharge a criminal debt, as long as it really is a criminal, not civil, obligation.  Bankruptcy does discharge income tax debts that meet certain conditions. Bankruptcy simply does not discharge child and spousal support, IF it fits bankruptcy’s definition of support.

No Discharge of Support

Bankruptcy law is clear that neither Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy” nor Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” discharges support debts.

Section 523 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code lists the “Exceptions to discharge.” It includes that “A discharge under [Chapter 7] does not discharge an individual debtor from any debt—(5) for a domestic support obligation… “ Section 523(a)(5).

Chapter 13 says the same thing by incorporating this Chapter 7 exception to discharge in its own list of exceptions.  Section 1328(a)(2).

What’s Considered Support in Bankruptcy?

So if you owe a “domestic support obligation,” you’re not getting out of it through bankruptcy. But what does that phrase mean? What does it include and what might if not include?

The Bankruptcy Code’s definition of “domestic support obligation” is 221 words long, containing 10 clauses. Section 101(14) of the Bankruptcy Code.  It appears to be a broad definition, covering anything that would sensibly be considered child or spousal support. For example, the debt could be owed not just to your ex-spouse or your child, but also to a current spouse (through a separation agreement) or to the parent, legal guardian, or responsible relative of a child (based on a court order of support, even if not biologically your child). In other circumstances, to be considered support the debt does not necessarily need to be based on a court order. It can be based on a separation agreement or “a determination made in accordance with applicable nonbankruptcy law by a governmental unit.”

Yet there are some limitations. For example, support obligations are often assigned for collection to someone other than the ex-spouse or child. Usually it’s assigned to a state or county support enforcement agency—then it’s still considered support. However, a support obligation that was “assigned to a nongovernmental entity” for collection is no longer considered support in bankruptcy. That is, it isn’t “unless that obligation [was] assigned voluntarily by the spouse, former spouse, child of the debtor, or such child’s parent, legal guardian, or responsible relative for the purpose of collecting the debt.” Section 101(14)(D).

Obligations “In the Nature of” Child or Spousal Support

Sometimes a domestic relations court will call something support that really isn’t.  The bankruptcy court does not have to accept what your divorce court labeled as support.

The definition of a “domestic support obligation” (that is, support) includes the requirement that it really be “in the nature of alimony, maintenance, or support” on behalf of the pertinent person. Section 101(14)(B). If it’s not, the debt may be dischargeable.

“Support” That Might Be Dischargeable in Bankruptcy

For example, a debt that’s labeled as support might not really be “in the nature” of support if it’s actually a “property settlement” obligation that’s mislabeled as spousal or child support.

A property settlement obligation involves the resolution of a marital asset or debt. For example, you may owe money to your ex-spouse in return for receiving more than your share of marital assets. Or you may owe in return for your ex-spouse taking on what had been a joint debt. If a divorce judge requires you to pay “support” for what is really a property settlement, it may be discharged in bankruptcy.

The Difference This Can Make

Chapter 7 discharges neither support nor property settlement debts.  But Chapter 13 can discharge property settlement debts.

So if you have obligations called “support” but which are not “in the nature of support,” a Chapter 13 is worth looking into. Chapter 13 may especially be worthwhile if the debt at issue  is large.

Conclusion

If you owe a debt labeled as support by your divorce court, most of the time it will indeed be “in the nature of” support. But not always.

You can see that the interplay between divorce law and bankruptcy can get complicated. Talk with your bankruptcy lawyer about all of your divorce obligations to get all the relief you’re entitled to.

 

Bankruptcy Writes Off (Some) Income Taxes

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Bankruptcy permanently writes off income taxes, as long as the tax meets certain conditions. For some taxes the conditions are easy to meet. 

 

Bankruptcy DOES Write Off Income Taxes

There are certain very special debts that bankruptcy never writes off. Child and spousal support is a good example. See Sections 523(a)(5) and 101(14A) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Income taxes are different. Income taxes CAN be written off, as long as you meet a few conditions. These conditions mostly tie in to timing—when the tax was due and when (and whether) you filed its tax return.

The Two Timing Conditions

In most people meeting these conditions is straightforward. You essentially have to file your tax returns and wait long enough to comply with for the following two conditions:

  1. You submitted the pertinent tax return to the IRS/state and did so more than 2 years before filing your bankruptcy case. Section 523(a)(1)(B)(ii) of the Bankruptcy Code.
  2. The legal due date for that tax return was more than 3 years before filing your bankruptcy case. Section 507(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code.

For example, assume you owe the IRS $5,000 for the 2014 tax year, and you submitted its tax return a full year late—in April 2016. It’s been more than 2 years since that so you meet the first condition. The legal due date for that tax return was in April 2015, which is more than 3 years ago. So you also meet the second condition. So in most situations bankruptcy would write off that 2014 income tax debt of $5,000.

A Few Important Twists about the Timing

Keep three practical considerations in mind about these two time periods:

  1. The 3-year period only starts to run when the tax return was “last due, including extensions.” Section 523(a)(1)(B)(ii). The 3 years only begins at the extended due date. It’s absolutely crucial that your bankruptcy lawyer gets the correct information from you about whether you got an extension that year.
  2. If you’re cutting it close (because you’re in a big hurry to file), the precise tax return due date can be crucial. Remember that taxes are not always due on April 15 and October 15 (for extensions). Weekends and holidays can push the due date out even several days. That means you may have to wait some extra days to file your bankruptcy case to be able to write off that tax debt.
  3. Careful about making a mistake about whether and when you actually submitted your tax return. It may be worth finding out directly from the IRS/state to avoid getting a rude surprise after filing your bankruptcy case.

Other Uncommon Conditions

There are two other conditions that might possibly apply, in more complicated situations.

  1. More than 240 days must pass from when the IRS/state assessed the income tax to when filing your bankruptcy case. Assessment usually happens within a few weeks after you get your tax returns in to the IRS/state. So usually this condition is easily met. It only tends to apply if assessment gets delayed with a tax audit, litigation in Tax Court, a tax appeal, offer in compromise, and other complications.
  2. Regardless of all these timing rules, you can never write off an income tax based on a fraudulent tax return or if you intentionally evade a tax. This is uncommon. It tends to only come up if you were significantly dishonest with the tax authorities.

Conclusion

In most situations you can write off the tax if you filed your pertinent tax return and both the 2-year and 3-year periods have passed. But the intersection between bankruptcy and income taxes is definitely complicated. Be sure to see a competent bankruptcy lawyer if you owe taxes so that you get the full benefit of the law.

 

Criminal Fines and Restitution Not Written Off in Bankruptcy

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Bankruptcy does not write off criminal fines or restitution. But it can help by writing off other debts so you can pay crucial expenses.

 

If you owe criminal fines, penalties, forfeiture, or restitution, bankruptcy does not help you directly with those debts. But bankruptcy can still provide you essential help in paying for essential expenses, including criminal related ones.

The Criminal Fines and Restitution Exception

Neither Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy” nor Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” writes off criminal fines, penalties, forfeiture, or restitution.

Under Chapter 7 any “fine, penalty, or forfeiture” owed to “a governmental unit” is excluded from discharge (bankruptcy write-off). Section 523(a)(7) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

(The only exceptions are if the debt is “compensation for actual pecuniary loss” or certain tax penalties. These are narrow exceptions that are beyond what this blog post covers.)

Criminal restitution is also not written off in Chapter 7. Excluded are debts “for any payment of an order of restitution issued under title 18, United States Code.” Title 18 is the main criminal code for the federal government. Courts have extended this to include state criminal restitution as well.

Chapter 13 excludes from write off “any debt… for restitution, or a criminal fine, included in a sentence on the debtor’s conviction of a crime.”  Section 1328(a)(3) of the Bankruptcy Code.  (In the past Chapter 13 did allow some criminal debts to be written off. But about 25 years ago Congress changed the law.)

Bankruptcy May Still Provide Crucial Help

Even if filing bankruptcy would not write off your criminal debt(s), doing so may still be very worthwhile. Bankruptcy may in fact be an indispensable tool for dealing with your situation. If you’ve been criminally charged, here are two ways filing bankruptcy could significantly help.

1) Write Off Your Other Debts

If you’ve been charged with a serious crime you need to intensely focus your financial resources to deal with it. You need to fixate on how to pay for your defense—for an experienced criminal attorney and other related costs. If you’re like most people, you’ll need to consider whether to stop paying many or even all of your debts.

Often the best way to eliminate or greatly reduce your debt payments is by filing bankruptcy. Doing so allows you to immediately stop paying many or most of your debts.

If your criminal case has already finished, bankruptcy can also be extremely effective. You presumably have financial obligations to the criminal justice system that you absolutely must pay. These obligations may include criminal fines, restitution payments, probation or supervision fees, treatment costs, community service fees, and/or drug and electronic monitoring charges. If you don’t pay these the consequences can be catastrophic, including incarceration and other harsh penalties.  Writing off your other debts through bankruptcy can enable you to pay your court-required obligations.

2) Deal with Related Non-Criminal Liability

If the criminal allegations against you involve a victim, you may end up owing that person a debt. This debt would—unlike the criminal debts owed to the court—likely be civil damages that you may be able to write off in bankruptcy.

The truth is that there are other exceptions that may prevent you from writing off even civil damages. However, your filing of bankruptcy may persuade that person not to sue you. Or, if you’ve already been sued, it could lead to a better settlement for you.

That’s because:

  • You disclose the details of your financial distress in your bankruptcy documents, under oath. That may well quickly and convincingly show your adversary that pursuing you is not financially worthwhile.
  • Even if a civil claim against you might not be discharged in bankruptcy, it might be. You are putting up another hurdle for your adversary. He or she has to seriously consider whether it’s worth more money, time, and emotional effort to pursue you.
  • Filing bankruptcy can sometimes speed up the litigation process. Bankruptcy court litigation tends to be more streamlined and efficient than in state court, often much more so. Faster procedures lead to a quicker settlement or court decision. That saves you money, potentially a lot of money.
  • Almost always your adversary has to act very quickly to preserve the claim. If he or she fails to act, the civil claim will simply be written off.

 

Debts Not Written Off in Bankruptcy

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Most debts get written off—discharged—in bankruptcy. The only ones that aren’t are specifically listed in the Bankruptcy Code. 

 

Debts Covered by the Discharge

The basic rule is that all your debts get discharged in bankruptcy unless a particular debt fits a listed exception.

Focusing on Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy,” you will likely receive an Order of Discharge within about 4 months of filing the case. The heart of this court order simply states that “A discharge…  is granted to [the debtor].”

So what are the listed exceptions—what debts are NOT discharged through the Order of Discharge?

Exceptions to Discharge

 Section 523 of the Bankruptcy Code covers “Exceptions to discharge.” There are two categories of exceptions:

1) debts which will still be discharged unless the creditor objects and prevails in that objection, and

2) debts which do not require objection by a creditor.

1) Debts Requiring Successful Creditor Objection

In this first category, “the debtor shall be discharged for [the] debt of a kind specified” “unless, on request of the creditor… , the [bankruptcy] court determines such debt to be excepted from discharge… .” Section 523(c)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code.

In other words, these kinds of debts DO get discharged unless ALL of the following are true:

  • the debt is “of a kind specified”
  • the creditor  requests a court determination
  • the court determines in favor of the creditor that the debt should be “excepted from discharge”

There are 3 kinds of debts of this sort in which a creditor can ask for a court determination about discharge of the debt:

  1. Fraud Debts: incurred when a debtor makes a misrepresentation or commits fraud to get a loan or credit. Section 523(a)(2).
  2. Theft, Embezzlement, Fraud in a Trust Relationship: stealing from anyone, such as an employer or business partner, and especially from someone in a fiduciary relationship. 523(a)(4).
  3. Willful and Malicious Injury: intentionally and maliciously harming a person or business, and/or property. 523(a)(6).

Timely and Successful Objection

How does a creditor ask for a court determination that a debt falls within one of these 3 kinds? It files a formal “adversary proceeding”—a type of limited lawsuit—in the bankruptcy court. It has to file this within a strict deadline—usually within 60 days after a scheduled meeting of creditors. If the creditor received appropriate notice of the bankruptcy case but doesn’t object by this deadline, the debt is discharged forever.

And if a creditor does timely object, how does the bankruptcy court decide whether a debt should get discharged? Unlike most lawsuits on a debt, the court does NOT need to determine whether the debtor owes the debt. THAT’s generally assumed. Rather the question is whether the facts support the narrow grounds of fraud and such which make the debt not dischargeable. If the creditor cannot prove the necessary facts, the debt will still be discharged.

2) Debts Not Requiring Creditor Objection

The kinds of debts that are discharged unless a creditor objects generally involve some bad action by a debtor towards the creditor. The general idea is that if a creditor cares about being wronged it will raise an objection to the discharge.

But in a second category of not-discharged debts the creditors do not need to object. That’s because the kinds of debts in this category are not dischargeable simply because of the nature of the debt. There doesn’t need to be a court determination. It’s usually quite straightforward whether or not the debt belongs to these nondischargeable types of debt.

Here’s a list of debts that don’t get discharged even without creditor objection:

  1. Criminal fines, fees, and restitution
  2. Income taxes, and other forms of taxes, under certain conditions
  3. Child and spousal support
  4. Student loans that don’t cause an “undue hardship”
  5. Claims for bodily injury or death from driving while intoxicated
  6. Debts not listed in your bankruptcy schedules, under certain conditions

There ARE occasionally questions about whether the debt at issue fits the not-discharged definition. But it’s usually clear whether a debt is, for example, a criminal fine or child support. Our next 6 blog posts will go through each of these types, focusing on situations where there may be some ambiguity.

Note: Today’s blog post was about the discharge of debts in a Chapter 7 case. The debts discharged in a Chapter 13 case are slightly broader. We’ll address the difference in an upcoming blog post.  

Writing Off Debts with Bankruptcy

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Bankruptcy is about writing off or “discharging” debts. The timing of discharge is quite different in Chapter 7 and 13; both are permanent.  


The main goal of most consumer bankruptcy cases is to get a fresh financial start through writing off debts.  In bankruptcy the legal term for write-off is “discharge.”

In virtually all successful Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy” and Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” cases there will be a discharge of some or all of your debt.

In Chapter 7

People file Chapter 7 cases mostly to get a quick discharge of their debts. That is, the discharge of those debts that can be discharged, and that they want discharged.

Most debts qualify for discharge. We’ll dig into those that don’t next week.  In the meantime Section 523 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code covers “Exceptions to discharge.”

You may not want to discharge certain select debts that are secured by something you want to keep. Possible examples are your vehicle loan and home mortgage. You may want to formally “reaffirm” such debts—agree to continue to be liable in return for keeping the collateral. See Section 524(c) of the Bankruptcy Code. You definitely want to discuss thoroughly whether you should reaffirm any of your debts with your bankruptcy lawyer.

The big benefit of Chapter 7 is speed. Most cases finish within 4 months of filing, and do so with a court order discharging your debts. Rarely, the debtor has to give up some asset(s) to get the discharge. Here is an official Chapter 7 Order of Discharge that would come at the end of the case.

In Chapter 13

The road to discharge is much longer under Chapter 13. Plus most, though not all, cases require paying something to your creditors before discharge.

Whether and how much you pay depends on a bunch of circumstances. Chapter 13 involves proposing and getting bankruptcy court approval of an official plan of payments. That plan usually gives you 3 to 5 years to do what you need to do. Often that includes paying special debts such as “secured” and “priority” ones that handles for you much better than under Chapter 7. The “general unsecured” debts usually only get paid any money that’s left over. (See our last blog post for descriptions of these 3 main categories of debt.)

Only after your successful completion of this payment plan do you get a discharge of all or most of your remaining debts. Here is an official Chapter 13 Order of Discharge that would come at the end of the case.

What Is the Exact Legal Effect of the Discharge of Debts?

If you look at either the Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Order of Discharge linked to above you’ll notice in both the pertinent language is extremely short and sweet:

IT IS ORDERED: A discharge under [the pertinent section of the Bankruptcy Code] is granted to [the debtor].

The legal effect of this discharge is described in Section 524(a)(2) of the Bankruptcy Code as follows:

“A discharge… operates as an injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action, the employment of process, or an act, to collect, recover or offset any such debt as a personal liability of the debtor…  .”

What does this mean? There’s a short Explanation of Bankruptcy Discharge in the two Orders of Discharge linked to above, with both containing the following language:

Creditors cannot collect discharged debts

This order means that no one may make any attempt to collect a discharged debt from the debtors personally. For example, creditors cannot sue, garnish wages, assert a deficiency, or otherwise try to collect from the debtors personally on discharged debts. Creditors cannot contact the debtors by mail, phone, or otherwise in any attempt to collect the debt personally. Creditors who violate this order can be required to pay debtors damages and attorney’s fees.

The discharge court order is permanent, and the injunction that flows from it is permanent. Because of the penalties, most creditors are careful to comply. If you have any indication that any of your creditors is not complying, tell your bankruptcy lawyer.

 

Our next blog post will get into the special kinds of debts that may not get discharged.

Your Debts in Bankruptcy

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Bankruptcy is about debts. Different categories of debts are treated differently. The categories are secured, priority and general unsecured.  


Your debts are the reason you are reading this. You want to know how bankruptcy would deal with your debts.

  • Will bankruptcy write off all your debts?
  • Can you keep paying some of your debts like a vehicle loan or home mortgage to keep that vehicle or home?
  • What happens to special debts that you can’t write off like child support and some income taxes?

To answer these and other similar questions we start by getting to know the 3 legally different categories of debts: 

  • secured
  • priority
  • general unsecured

Your rights and obligations, and those of the creditor, are different with each category of debt.

Secured Debts

Each of your debts is either secured by something you own or it is not. A secured debt is backed up by a lien, a legal interest of the creditor in some kind of property of yours. See Section 101(37) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Usually you know whether a debt is secured. For example, in a vehicle loan the vehicle’s title states that your lender is the lienholder. That lien on the title makes the loan secured by the vehicle. That, together with the security agreement you signed, gives the lender certain rights over your vehicle.

Sometimes you don’t know whether a debt is secured. For example, most purchases on major credit cards create a debt that is not secured by whatever you purchased. But some card purchases—such as on some retail store affiliated cards—do create a secured debt. The paperwork that came with your card (which you’ve likely thrown away!) should tell you. Your bankruptcy lawyer will also likely know, or can find out.

Occasionally, a creditor wanted the debt to be secured but it isn’t because the creditor messed up. It didn’t take the legal steps required to make that happen. This could mean that you don’t have to pay the underlying debt and still get to keep the property at issue.

A debt could also be only partially secured. If you owe $10,000 on a vehicle worth only $6,000, the debt is partially secured. It’s secured as to the $6,000 value of the vehicle and unsecured as to the remaining $4,000 of the debt. (See Section 506 of the Bankruptcy Code.) In the right circumstances you would not need to pay the full $10,000 debt and could still keep the vehicle.

Priority Debts

The law has selected some debts to be treated better than others, each for certain specific reasons. For example, child support payments are given many advantages, both inside and outside bankruptcy, because legislatures have decided that paying child support is an extremely high societal priority.

Priority debts are themselves prioritized within their different types. The higher-priority priority debts are treated better than the lower-priority one. Here’s a list of the most common priority debts for consumers or small business owners in order of priority:

  • child and spousal support
  • certain wages and other compensation owed to a debtor’s employees
  • certain (usually more recent) income taxes, and some other kinds of taxes

Priority debts are important in bankruptcy for a practical reason. Often only certain debts get paid, or get paid more than other debts. So a priority debt may get paid in full while other debts get paid little or nothing. We’ll explore how this works in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 in our upcoming blog posts.

General Unsecured Debts

All debts that are not secured are unsecured debts.  “General” unsecured debts are just unsecured debts that are also not priority debts. So if a debt is not secured and does not fit any of the priority debt types, it’s general unsecured.  

Most people considering bankruptcy have mostly (and sometimes only) general unsecured debts. These include every possible way you can owe a debt. Examples include: most credit cards, just about all medical debts, personal loans without collateral, NSF checks, payday loans without collateral, unpaid rent and utilities, older income taxes, repossessed vehicle balances, most student loans, and other contract or legal claims against you.

Previously secured debts sometimes become general unsecured ones. One example: after a vehicle gets repossessed and sold, any remaining debt is a general unsecured one. Also, previously unsecured debts sometimes get secured. A general unsecured credit card balance can become secured by your home if the creditor sues you, gets a judgment, and records a judgment lien against your home.

 

Starting next week we’ll show how these different categories of debts are treated in bankruptcy.

 

If You Owe Both 2018 AND Earlier Income Taxes

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Do you owe income taxes for the 2018 tax year AND already owe for one or more tax years? Chapter 13 may be an especially good tool for you. 


Last week we got into a big advantage of filing a Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” case in early 2019. It enables you to include 2018 income taxes into your Chapter 13 payment plan. That would:

  1. Save you money on payment of your 2018 tax
  2. Give you invaluable financial flexibility
  3. Stop any present and future tax collections and the recording and enforcement of a tax lien on the 2018 tax

So Chapter 13 is a helpful tool for dealing with taxes you owe for the 2018 tax year. Sometimes it’s even absolutely indispensable—it solves a debt dilemma that appeared otherwise insolvable.

When You Also Owe Income Taxes for Earlier Years

However, Chapter 13 is a particularly powerful tool if you owe not just for 2018 but for other tax years (or year) as well. This is true wherever you stand with the earlier tax debt, whether:

  1. the IRS/state is now aggressively collecting the taxes
  2. you are currently paying them through an agreed monthly payment plan
  3. you haven’t yet filed the tax returns for the prior years 

1. Dealing with Aggressive Collection of Earlier Tax Debt

Is the IRS/state is currently collecting the earlier taxes through garnishment or some other collection procedures?  Then Chapter 13 would very likely greatly help you with both those earlier taxes and the new 2018 one.

The minute your bankruptcy lawyer files the Chapter 13 case for you all the aggressive tax collection actions will stop. That is the power of bankruptcy’s “automatic stay.” You will have 3 to 5 years to deal with ALL of your debts through a payment plan. This includes all your income taxes. The Chapter 13 payment plan will be based on what you can genuinely afford to pay. You may well not need to pay some of your earlier taxes. You will likely not need to pay any more accruing interest and penalties on ANY of the income taxes. You will not need to worry about tax collections throughout the time you’re in the case—including the recording of tax liens. At the completion of your case you will owe no income taxes. Indeed, you will be debt-free altogether, except for voluntary debt such as a home mortgage.

2. In a Monthly Payment Plan

Are you already in a payment plan with the IRS/state for the prior tax debt? If so, finding out that you owe even more for 2018 can be really frightening.

Those monthly installment payments likely contributed to the fact that you owe for 2018. You know that you have to keep up those monthly payments perfectly to avoid the IRS/state from starting or restarting collection actions against you. So you do everything you can to pay them, including not having enough withheld from your paycheck or not paying enough in quarterly estimated payments for the next year’s taxes. As a result you now owe another bunch of taxes for 2018.

Furthermore, you know that you’ll violate your installment agreement if you don’t stay current in future income taxes. As stated in IRS Form 9465, the Installment Agreement Request form, “you agree to meet all your future tax obligations.” So you know you’ll be in trouble when the IRS/state finds out that you owe for 2018.

Chapter 13 avoids this trouble. As mentioned above, the “automatic stay” immediately protects you from the IRS/state. Your monthly installment plan is cancelled right away. You make no further payments on it once you file you file your Chapter 13 case. All your prior income taxes AND your 2018 one(s) are handled through your Chapter 13 payment plan. You get the financial advantages and the peace-of-mind referenced in the above section. When you successfully complete your Chapter 13 case you’ll be totally free of any tax debt.

3. Not Filing Tax Returns

You may be in the scary situation that you can’t pay your taxes so you don’t file your tax returns.

Sometimes this happens because the tax authorities are already actively trying to collect on earlier tax debt. You can’t pay the earlier debt so you figure what’s the use of adding to the amount you already can’t pay.

Or you may be in an installment payment plan and you don’t want to violate it by admitting you owe more for 2018. You know you’ll be in violation of it upon filing the 2018 tax return, so you simply don’t do so.

Or finally, you haven’t filed a tax return for several years, and you know or guess you owe a lot. Now it’s time to file for 2018 and you figure you’ll owe again. You think, why file for 2018 and bring the wrath of the tax authorities onto yourself?

But you know that not filing your 2018 tax return (and any prior unfiled ones) only delays the inevitable. Because of the advantages listed in our last blog post and in the above two sections, Chapter 13 may well be the tool you need.

You’re in a vicious cycle in which you may well be falling further behind instead of getting ahead.

Chapter 13 can likely enable you to break out of that cycle. Not only do you deal with all of your taxes and other debts in a single package. Not only to you often not have to pay all of your taxes. The vicious cycle is broken because your Chapter 13 budget will also address your 2019 and future income tax situation. It does so because your new budget will include enough withholding or quarterly estimated payments so you can stay current for 2019 and thereafter. Again, you should end the Chapter 13 plan being completely tax-debt free.

 

Include 2018 Income Taxes in a Chapter 13 Case Filed in 2019

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Do you expect to owe income taxes for the 2018 tax year? Starting January 1, 2019 you can wrap that tax into a new Chapter 13 payment plan. 

 

Have you been considering filing bankruptcy and now also expect to owe income taxes for 2018? If so, the start of 2019 gives you more reason to file a Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts” case.

Why? Because filing in 2019 allows you to include 2018 income taxes into your payment plan. That gives you major advantages:

  1. Saves you money on your payment of the 2018 tax
  2. Gives you some very valuable flexibility
  3. Stops tax collections and a tax lien on the 2018 tax

1. Save Money

Wrapping your 2018 income tax debt into a Chapter 13 payment plan usually allows you to pay no more interest and penalties on that tax. The savings can be much more than you think.

You’ll have to pay the 2018 base income tax itself in full, but usually not the interest or penalties. The base tax itself is a “priority” debt that you have to pay. But almost always no interest or penalties accrue on that tax (as long as you finish the case successfully).  

This especially helpful because practically speaking you’d probably not pay that 2018 tax for quite  a while:

  • If you don’t file bankruptcy your other financial pressures would likely prevent you from paying that tax quickly. You might even be tempted to put off filing the tax return, thereby aggravating the problem. The interest and penalties would accrue fast.
  • If you do file a Chapter 13 case in your payment plan you’d most likely pay other even higher priority debts ahead of the 2018 tax. There’s a good chance that tax wouldn’t get paid until near the end of your 3-to-5-year plan. A huge amount of interest and penalties would accrue in the meantime.

2. Valuable Flexibility

Wrapping your 2015 taxes into a Chapter 13 payment plan gives you tremendous flexibility in paying the tax. This can be a real game changer, especially when you have other financial obligations that can’t wait. Chapter 13 allows you to delay paying your 2018 tax debt until you can afford doing so AFTER paying, for example:

  • home mortgage arrearage to save your home
  • unpaid real property taxes, which usually accrue interest at a high rate
  • vehicle loan arrearage or “cramdown” payments to keep your vehicle
  • child or spousal support arrearage
  • other years’ income taxes, including protecting a home or other possession from previously recorded liens

3. Stop Future Tax Collection Including Liens

An important benefit of waiting until 2019 to include the 2018 income tax debt is to stop its aggressive collection. Filing a Chapter 13 case prevents the IRS and/or state from taking just about any collection actions on that tax. This protection against collection stays in effect throughout the years of the case (as long as you fulfill your obligations). Not having to worry about collection of this debt is a huge emotional and practical benefit.

It’s especially nice not have to worry about getting hit with a tax lien. Tax liens are dangerous for a number of reasons. They put your precious assets at risk, thereby giving the IRS/state tremendous leverage. Chapter 13 prevents tax liens while giving you the means to pay off the tax on a relatively flexible budget.

 

Filing Chapter 13 in 2019 to Write Off More Income Taxes

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Chapter 13 is a riskier, longer, and maybe more expensive way to escape a dischargeable income tax debt—but may still be your best option. 


Last week we showed how to permanently write off (“discharge”) more of your tax debts through Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy.” Today we show how to do this with Chapter 13 “adjustment of debts.”

Why Use Chapter 13 If Chapter 7 is Faster and Cleaner?

Chapter 7 is a very fast way to discharge an income tax debt that qualifies for discharge. You would very likely no longer owe the tax only about 4 months after filing a Chapter 7 case.

But Chapter 13 case could be much better for you than Chapter 7 for other reasons. Those other reasons may outweigh the benefit of discharging your dischargeable tax debt quickly.

You may owe some other income tax debt(s) which do not meet the conditions for discharge. These other taxes that may be too large to pay off reasonably through a monthly payment plan with the IRS/state.  The other taxes may not qualify for an Offer in Compromise or other settlement. You may well save money and avoid significant risks by handling all of your taxes in a Chapter 13 case.

There are also many other reasons that Chapter 13 would be worthwhile for you, reasons not involving income taxes. It may save your home from foreclosure or your vehicle(s) from repossession. Chapter 13 can deal with a child or spousal support arrearage much better than Chapter 7. There are many other situations where Chapter 13 gives you extraordinary and unique powers. So it can be worthwhile overall in spite of its disadvantages in dealing with a dischargeable tax debt.

How Does Chapter 13 Deal with Dischargeable Income Taxes?

Determining whether a particular income tax debt can be discharged in Chapter 13 is the same as in Chapter 7. Please see our last blog post for the conditions of discharge. These conditions mostly involve how long it’s been since the tax return for the tax at issue was due and when the return was actually submitted to the IRS/state. Sometimes there are other pertinent conditions, but usually it’s just a matter of timing.

Because of how the timing works, there are certain points of time in 2019 when a tax that hadn’t earlier qualified for discharge would then qualify. Again, see our last blog post about those crucial times happening this year.

If your tax does meet the conditions for discharge, it can get discharged in your Chapter 13 case. But this works quite differently than under Chapter 7.

One key difference is that under Chapter 13 there’s a good chance that you would pay something on your dischargeable tax debt.

Under Chapter 13 dischargeable income tax debts is treated like the rest of your “general unsecured” debts. Under your payment plan all such debts get paid the same percentage of their total amounts. That percentage may be any amount from 0% to 100% of their amount, depending on your budget and other factors.

Consider two situations: First, if you have a “0% plan” then you’d pay nothing on the dischargeable tax just like in a straightforward Chapter 7 case. Second, even if you do pay some percentage, often that actually doesn’t increase the amount you pay into your payment. We’ll explain these two situations.

A 0% Payment Plan

In some Chapter 13 cases all the money that the debtor can afford to pay goes to special creditors. All the money going into the Chapter 13 payment plan goes either to secured or to “priority” debts. These would include home mortgages, vehicle loans, nondischargeable taxes, child and spousal support, and such. These usually have to be paid in full before the “general unsecured” debts receive anything.  So during the 3-to-5-year payment plan no money goes to the dischargeable income taxes. That’s a 0% Chapter 13 plan.

Assuming the bankruptcy approves the plan, and you successfully complete it, at its conclusion the dischargeable taxes get discharged, without you having to pay any of it.

Payment Plans Which Do Not Increase the Amount You Pay

In many Chapter 13 plans the amount available for the pool of the “general unsecured” debts is a fixed amount. That amount is based on what you can afford to pay over the required length of the plan. (That required length is usually 3 or 5 years.) That fixed amount does not change regardless how much in “general unsecured” debts you owe. The amount just gets distributed to all those debts pro rata. The more you owe in “general unsecured” debts the lower the percent of the debts that fixed amount can pay.

For example, assume you can afford to pay the pool of “general unsecured” debts a total of $2,000 during the course of the payment plan. All the rest of the money you pay into the plan is earmarked for secured and “priority” debts. Assume also that you have $20,000 in unsecured credit card and medical debts and $5,000 of dischargeable income tax. Without the income tax, the $2,000 would be paid towards the $20,000 in “general unsecured” debts, resulting in a 10% plan. ($2,000 is 10% of $20,000.) Now when you add in the $5,000 tax, there’s a total of $25,000 of “general unsecured” debt. $2,000 is 8% of $25,000, resulting in an 8% plan.

You would be paying no more—the fixed amount of $2,000—over the length of your plan. The fact that you owe the $5,000 in dischargeable tax would not increase the amount you would pay. Then at the successful completion of the case all remaining “general unsecured” debts, including whatever was remaining on the dischargeable tax, would be forever discharged.

Conclusion

So you see that Chapter 13 is a slower and somewhat riskier way to discharge an income tax debt. Plus you may have to pay a portion of the tax instead of quickly discharging all of it under Chapter 7. But then again you may not have to pay anything on it, as described above. In any event, the delay and risks may well be worthwhile. Your bankruptcy lawyer will help you weigh all the advantages and disadvantages so that you can make the right choice.

 

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Attorney Robert Firth works with clients throughout the Coachella Valley and all courts throughout Riverside & San Bernardino Counties. We regularly work with clients in Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio, La Quinta, Rancho Mirage, Indian Wells, Desert Hot Springs, Yucca Valley, El Centro and Imperial County.

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