Questions on self employment and income

[brokentex]

After trying all other means of getting out of my massive debt, I have decided to file bk. When filing out the business income amount , do you also subtract business expenses such as fuel, cell phone, office supplies etc. The reason I ask is my line of work requires a lot of driving and I had 24,000 business miles from it last year on my tax return which equates to 400-500 additional fuel expense per month. What about the additional 7.65 % I pay for self employment tax ? How do you derive your average monthly business income if your work is seasonal ? My income for the past 6 months has been around $2600 a month from my business, but I was spending an extra $400-$500 in extra fuel to make that amount in addition to 150 -200 a month in tools for the work. In 2004 I made 17k from my business but after mileage and other deductions my net was around 3k. This year I will make about 27k and my net will probably be around 11-12k after deductions. My wife makes 22,800 a year but only brings home 18k after taxes and insurance. My question is do I qualify for chp 7? How do they use my business income ? Do I add the $172 a month I will pay for self employment tax if they use my last 6 months average ? Our combined income from both was 49800 which is $3346 above the TX median income but On the 27k I made I will owe $2065 in self emploment tax alone and I spent roughly $4000 in additional gas to make that income.

Our expenses are

Mortgage 514
prop tax 140
house insur 80
car note 267
car note 261
car ins 180
health in 110
student loans 250
utilities 240
nat gas 45
home phone 44
cable 50
internet 40
food 300
gas wife 175
medicine 20
me from business 400-500
cell phone for bus 85
wife cell phone 60
car maint 80
house main 75
hair cuts 45


credit car payments 2169

[brokentex]

Also I had a question on assets. I have 2 jetskis, 1 is worth about $2800 and the other is worth $1100 but it is broken and needs about $500 to fix it. I understand by filing a 7 the trustee will take them, but I also owe property taxes on my home right now and my plan was to sell the better one to pay the tax. If I file I know I can not sell them then, but if they are seized and sold, will my past due property tax get paid out of the money ?

[nomore$$]

I too was in your shoes.
Self employed with variable income and expenses.
If you want to make life easy and not have problems at your 341, find a way to get an attorney. It will be the best money you spend!

[brokentex]

I am going to meet with an attorney in the morning but I was just curious how it was handled with others. How was your income handled ?

[nomore$$]

They took the average of the last 6-12 months.
I also had an asset worth about $8,000 that was borderline on my exemptions, and was never even questioned about it at my 341.
My attorney turned in my 2003 & 2004 taxes and schedule c's, and I didn't have to supply any bank statements, titles, or ANYTHING else. Well, other than ID. lol
When I looked at the paperwork my attorney filled out for me with all the different numbers and categories, I wouldn't have felt comfortable doing it myself.
Also, visit a few attorneys and use one that you're COMPLETELY comfortable with.
I did and it made a world of difference.