If my business has lost money how do they compute your income?

[stopthebleeding]

I also have a job but my business was in the negative would they actually subtract income for the losses?

[lrprn]

I also have a job but my business was in the negative would they actually subtract income for the losses?

Depends on the nature of your business, if it's incorporated and how, and how you paid yourself from the business.

When a business is involved, you need an experienced Ch 7 lawyer to help you file. If you haven't done so yet, I encourage you to schedule 3-4 free consultations with several bk lawyers in your area - you will learn a great deal about your options. It's well worth your time!

[Retired_Broke]

From my own experience, income from a business is not just defined as profit. You can pay certain items that benefit you, such as insurance policies, and still deduct them as business expenses in some cases. Yet in reality, they are income.
So, just because you have a negative profit, it doesn't necessarily mean that you didn't get "income" from the business as far as bankruptcy is concerned.
Also, business losses that can be deducted from overall income from other sources, don't necessarily mean that you didn't benefit from the business.
For instance, you can show a business loss based solely on depreciation. Yet, you can "use" the depreciation as though it is income.
That you didn't reinvest into the business with the depreciation allowance is beside the point. You spent the money and it is up to you to prove to the bankruptcy referee that the boat you bought with depreciation money was not purchased from income.
I'm going through this right now. I've decided to pay rather than try to prove that a distribution from a partnership is not income.
I believe I'm being blackmailed, but it is easier to pay than go through the legal expense of defending myself, possibly losing, and having to pay legal fees AND the bankruptcy court.

[wrinkleigh]

Business that went under is the primary reason we filed. We had an S corp. DH actually drew a paycheck every week. On our books we catagorized it as owners draw under owners equity. We did not take out any money from the business that was not catagorized this way.

On our BK petition we listed owners draw as the amount of our income. When we had our taxes done, we had significantly less income, due to business loss.