Discharge of Taxes

[nicole38]

How will I know if my taxes are discharged.I don't wanna call the IRS and they make me pay.Will the IRS let me know if my taxes are discharged or not.

[OregonMom]

Didn't think you could discharge taxes unless they were from years ago.

[nicole38]

They were from 2004 but my lawyer told me when I filed that it depends on when they amended my return and assessed me the fines and penalties for the return

[HHM]

First, no one is going to "tell" you if the taxes were discharge, not the BK court, not the trustee, not the IRS.

If the taxes fall within the timeline guidelines, they are discharged, if not, they are not. Your attorney should figure this out before your case is filed. The basic rules are this

Only income taxes can be discharged if...
(1) The tax return was due more than 3 years before you filed BK. Tax returns are due April 15. So, if you file BK in 2009, the most recent tax year you can discharge is 2005 (the tax return for 2005 was due April 15, 2006). Note, if you filed an extension, the extension date counts, so if you filed an extension to file your 2005 tax return (which would make it due in October 2006), you would need to wait until Oct. 2009 to discharge 2005 taxes.

(2) The tax return was filed more than 2 years before you filed BK. IRS substitute for returns do not count.

(3) The tax was assessed more than 8 months before you filed BK (this rule comes into play when there is an audit or a tolling of the timline)

(4) No fraud.