2 questions Tax and filling

[mrman]

If I file BK now and get a tax refund in april, will the trustee take it. If that is the case, wouldn't it be better to drop exemptions and get paid more now per pay check, and not get a refund. This is for my wife as I'm averaging $50 a week paycheck. I love making $200 a month and having bills of $1500, makes me feel like a real man

I would qualify for BK after October 15, what is the big advantage of filling before hand?

[herekitty]

The new law is based on the median income for your state. For instance, in Milwaukee Wisconsin, the median income is like $40 some thousand (I believe), if you make under that you will qualify.

As for taxes, yes it could happen that you may need to turn over a portion of your tax return - but as it was posted in another forum - wouldn't it go to some sort of bill anyway? And isn't it worth not having one this year to get out of thousands of dollars of debt?

HMM laid out how much could be taken - I believe (and fix it if I'm wrong) that they take your tax return and divide it by 365 and take the portion of days prior to filing. So, if you had a return of $3650, that's $10 a day. If you filed on October 31st, that's 304 days $3040 that they could take.

[HHM]

Again, herekitty has it right. They can take any tax refund in April. The overall amount they take will also be reduced by your wifes portion (assuming she works) if she is not filing BK with.

As a general matter, its always better to max your exemptions so you get paid more per pay check, its your money and its not doing you any good sitting with the IRS.

There are innumerable advantages to filing before Oct 15, but it depends on your individual case. Under the new law, you will have to provide more information to the trustee, attend some classes, and it will be overall more difficult and more costly to have a successful bankruptcy.

[bezoar]

I know what you mean - nothing like making the kind of money that you used to when you were a teenager to make you feel about an inch tall. I'm making about 1/5 my former salary - its almost embarassing to even write it down on the paperwork...

Yes, they might take the refund - some do, some don't. Wouldn't hurt to adjust your withholding, but since its prorated to the day that you file, it might not matter much at this point.

Lots of reasons to do it now, if you can. My att'y will be doubling his fees after the new laws go into effect due to liability and client expense verification issues - more time & overhead.

You may find other reasons that apply to you in this link.

http://abiworld.net/bankbill/changes.html