Business Debt - consultation tomorrow

[screwedMHIC]

Now that I'm a little more up to speed I can post a more direct thred for your responses. This one was my first thread.

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=20510

I have a consultation tomorrow and I'd like to have some knowledge about how a business related debt pertains to personal bankruptcy. Here is a quick rundown of what I think is relevant information about my case now.

I have about $85K related to a business debt to the state, 20-25K of that is civil penalties and will have to be negotiated down and not discharged. The 60-65K is dischargeable. My wife and I are fortunate enough to make a good income and we can afford our bills and will likely not qualify under any of the standard rules or measurements. I do not want to get any of her "stuff" involved in this at all and if that is the case I will not file.

I've read a few different places that I may be able to file ch7 due to it not being consumer debt even though our income is too high. Is there a provision for business or I guess hardship related debt that doesn't require the other parameters of ch7?

Basically I'm asking, can I make this go away simply by filing due to the nature of the debt or will I be subject to the other ramifications of ch7. I do not want to give up any assets (don't have many, maybe 50K in home equity and a paid for truck worth maybe $10K) I couldn't sell the house anyway and I still need the truck. My wifes credit is also great and I don't want to mess with that at all. If forced to I can probably swing the payments if I negotiated a better interest rate and knocked some of the balance down myself (same as a ch13 IMO)...can I just make it go away?

[biotechsolution]

If the total amount of debt that you have at the moment. This includes home mortages and car loans is less than the business debt owed. You can qualify for a Chapter 7 if of your total debt more than 50% is business related no matter what your income level is. But you would still be subject to an asset case if assets that the trustee can sell.

Usually with state and federal taxes if the debt is dischargable, the penalties and interest is also dischargable.
Were they trust fund taxes (sales or payroll taxes)?? That could be the issue.

You may be in a 100% payback in a 13 anyway if you have a lot of disposable income. The good thing is you won't be subject to the IRS guidelines when doing your schedules if your business debt is more than 50% of your total debt so you can use your own expenses. I had a 18K a year private school expense and since it was a business BK the trustee didn't say a peep.

[screwedMHIC]

hmm, this gets screwy again because I only have about 32K personally, but my wife and I have about $580K with the mortgage included vs. only the $85K that relates to the business. I live in maryland, I'm sure that matters and I'm assuming our community property will be included, if that is the case how is the mortgage handled since I'm not on it, just on the deed.

[HHM]

hmm, this gets screwy again because I only have about 32K personally, but my wife and I have about $580K with the mortgage included vs. only the $85K that relates to the business. I live in maryland, I'm sure that matters and I'm assuming our community property will be included, if that is the case how is the mortgage handled since I'm not on it, just on the deed.

You won't get a non-consumer BK designation if ALL your personal consumer debt (credit cards, mortgage, student loans, etc) is greater than your business debt. Also, there is a difference between debt being "business related" and being "business debt"

Business debt = Business credit card, investment propety, etc. This debt would be considered business debt.

Business related = charges made on your "personal credit cards" but were business expenses. Those debts would still be consumer debts because the charges were made on your personal credit card (i.e. you comingled your personal and business charges).

[screwedMHIC]

its definitely business debt, penalties and repayments to consumers by the state on behalf of the company. The State is attaching those to me personally. In the licensing agreement for the home improvement commission it basically states there is no corporate shield.