Chapter 7 Potential problem?

[flkpm]

For me filing Chapter 7 at this point is a no brainer. I have $13k on one BoA cc, $3k on Discover, $2k on a credit union cc, a $3k bank loan, $5k on a car, along with some small misc debts for a total of over $26k in debt. I am single, have no assets or income, am unemployed and live meagerly. But I do forsee a problem in the process for me.

I'm facing BK because I owned my own biz (sole prop) until I went under Dec 07. I have been unemployed and living off of debt since. While being self-employed I never filed taxes for the last 2 years. While applying for credit extensions on my credit cards a few months ago I listed my income at $100k (even though I was making about $45k). If I file taxes late for these last 2 years stating 100k income then I will have 3 times as much debt as I do now and with it being taxes it won't be dischargable so that is not an option. But if I file taxes for income at a level I can handle, like 20k a year, then could I not be exposed to fraud charges (tax fraud is another matter, I'm just talking about bankruptcy fraud)? The $13k Bank of America card is really my only concern. The others were taken under honest pretenses. For the BoA I believe I listed $100k income for my credit increase from $9k to $12k back in Nov.

[keepmine]

First things first. File your taxes and use the actual numbers. Secondly, get a job-anything to get some money rolling in.
Put off filing for as long as humanly possible-at least 6 months and preferably a year or more and let this season a little.

[whywhywhy]

I wouldn't lie about income on your taxes. I would start talking to some attorneys around town if you haven't already, and I would talk to a few.

I am by no means a lawyer, but my personal opinion is that, when you are self employed, the income on your taxes and the income on a credit application are two entirely different things. There are so many different factors that come in to play with your situation, talk to some lawyers.

In regards to that credit increase situation, I can tell you, from my experience while employed with a large bank, one that tends to issue a lot of credit cards and gobble up other companies that do, if you did the increase request online or over the phone and it was approved right away, that income played little or no factor in the decision, you were pre-approved anyway and probably would have gotten without any effort, for being such a valued customer, in a few months. This is where everything gets interesting, if you tell me information like that, and I ignore it completely during my underwriting process, is it really fair for me to scream foul when things go south? Again, talk to some lawyers. Your mileage may vary.