You could, but they will find out about it and if you don't use this money to try and pay creditors then you could be in hot water. I would get some legal advice on this and meanwhile, put that money in an interest bearing account and don't touch it. Marcy * If the refund is received 60 days or less before the filing the entire refund is considered assets that must be included in the BK filing. If it is received more than 60 days before the filing the amount subject to BK is pro-rated.
Depends on if your due a refund to start...and if it was taken from earnings before your filing or after.
Whether you are entitled to your tax refund will depend on what type of Chapter of bankruptcy you are filing and whether the bankruptcy exemptions can be used to protect the tax refund. If you are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy then you can generally keep the refund if the available state bankruptcy exemptions provide protection for it. If you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you are typically required to turn over the tax refunds during the life of the Chapter 13 case.
Yes, you do. And any tax refund may have to be given to the trustee.
If received for last year yes. the one for next year, received after filing, no.
I filed my Federal taxes for 2008 and just received a refund and I am in the process of filing bankruptcy this month will that refund be added as income to the bottom line?
Generally it depends on the type of BK when or if it has been discharged, the amount of the refund, and if it is a federal or state bankruptcy filing. As a rule at least a portion of the refund will be taken by the trustee, more likely the entire amount is subject to relinquishment.
The judge may ask you what it was spent on. Necessities such as food, shelter, utilities etc. are acceptable and a usual answer. You did the right thing. Receive and spend the refund before filing bankruptcy, if possible. Of course, is not always possible due to the stress from pressure by creditors. You should weigh the relief bankruptcy provides against the amount of stress you can live with.
This question gets asked somewhat frequently. The general consensus is that it's sort of regional and case specific. A particularly large refund interests them for sure. However, any that they do consider as a bankruptcy asset would have had to be paid over (withheld) in the pre filing periods. If your case has been closed for a while, and you filed yet sometime before that, this years refund would have been from post filing earnings and not subject to them.
The trustee may take the refund and distribute it to creditors because a tax refund is not considered an exempted asset under bankruptcy laws.
The trustee may be able to take a portion depending upon the amount of the refund and the time frame between the filing or discharge of the BK and the date of the tax return. If a percentage can be ceased it will be pro-rated according to the number of months between the BK discharge and filing of taxes. In a chapter 13, the refund is not ceased but if it is of a considerable amount it may affect the payment amount assigned to the BK. But the money was generated BEFORE you filed for bankruptcy, so it's technically an asset that you already had and as such is to be factored in to the distribution to the creditors.
By doing all the calculations required, but not actually filing the forms. You really can't estimate your refund without doing the calculations in at least an approximate form.
No. It was not part of your "bankruptcy estate" as of the date of filing and is not one of the items that have to be reported if received within 6 months of filing. Especially if you do file your return until April.