Question stimulus checks-when will seizures stop?

[crazycat]

...The current release of the stimulus money is clearly showing a preponderance of seizures by the trustees currently working cases....The stimulus release should be complete by early June?...At what point would you venture that trustees would not ask for/ or about the check? August,September?

[epiphany]

...The current release of the stimulus money is clearly showing a preponderance of seizures by the trustees currently working cases....The stimulus release should be complete by early June?...At what point would you venture that trustees would not ask for/ or about the check? August,September?

Dunno, but if you spend it before you file, they are pretty much SOL.

wp

[JRScott]

They'll probably want to know what you spent it on until the last quarter of this year, however filing then they'll be looking at your 2009 tax return.

[kornellred]

The economic stimulus payment is not income. It will not be reflected in your 2008 earnings.

[momof5]

The economic stimulus payment is not income. It will not be reflected in your 2008 earnings.

They consider tax returns income and this is just an advance of an amount that will be in the tax returns of 2009 for 2008.

[AngelinaCat]

When we went for our 341 meeting on Feb. 7, 2008, the lady that was interviewed ahead of us was specifically instructed by the Trustee NOT to spend her stimulus check without consulting him first. No such instructions were given to us, but we are going to follow that guideline. In our situation, we owe so much to IRS already that our stimulus check will probably be scoffed up before it can get out of the building.

[TX Bluebonnet]

They consider tax returns income and this is just an advance of an amount that will be in the tax returns of 2009 for 2008.

I don't know how it figures in as far as the means test goes, but I don't believe it's accurate to call it an "advance." Here's a quote from the IRS website:

"What is it? It's an economic stimulus payment that more than 130 million households will receive starting in May. It's not taxable, and it won't reduce your 2007 or 2008 refund or increase the amount you owe when you file your 2008 return."

And do they really include tax returns as income? I hope not, because it never occured to me to enter my refund check amount when I filled out the 6 month lookback section of the paperwork for my attorney.

[momof5]

And do they really include tax returns as income? I hope not, because it never occured to me to enter my refund check amount when I filled out the 6 month lookback section of the paperwork for my attorney.

Most definately! If you get a refund of your income tax it means you overpaid from your income that year. Otherwise everyone would claim 0 in bankruptcy planning and have extra income tax withheld to lower their income.

The part of our income tax return that was earned income credit( less than $200) was not included as income though.

Now I imagine the rules are different if you file the last half of the year but I know nothing about that to offer any information at all.

[bouncingback]

We filed in August '07 and were discharged in November of '07. The trustee sent a letter saying we had to turn in any tax refund check we got when we received it this year, but I don't know if the Stimulus check is considered a refund. As it was delivered to our bank account, it reads "Tax Refund 220" not "stimulus" anything. Since the stimulus check is given on the basis of 2008 taxes, I'm assuming it can't be claimed by the trustee since we've already filed and been discharged? Right? Wrong?

My other concern is whether or not it can be seen as a "windfall." The instructions of the discharge state any "windfall" for the six months following discharge are to be turned over to the trustee.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

It's def. not a "windfall .. LOL," and "tax refund 220" is probably code for "stimulus."

Good Luck, Catchmeifyoucan

[bouncingback]

Thanks for your response, Catchme. This entire process has been so confusing!!!! That's what I get for hiring a huckster attorney.

[southernbelle]

...The current release of the stimulus money is clearly showing a preponderance of seizures by the trustees currently working cases....The stimulus release should be complete by early June?...At what point would you venture that trustees would not ask for/ or about the check? August,September?

In my opinion (from what I saw at my 341) it seems like every Trustee has a magic cutoff date for things, like mine seemed to have a month cutoff to ask for receipts if you received a refund a month or less before filing. It might vary by District, but I'll bet if you took the date the last checks are due to be mailed out and add a month or two, that might get you close. Unfortunately, there aren't any rules for them to follow and it could vary a lot depending on what Trustee you get.

Best bet, spend it on bills, atty fees or necessities before filing and keep all receipts.

[laurannm]

I don't believe tax refunds are considered income on the means test, as that would be "double-counting", since the means test asks for your gross income, not your net (it is already counted in your gross).

Whether or not the stimulus is considered income seems to be up for debate, and coule be a district-by-district thing.

[bouncingback]

From what I'm seeing, the bankruptcy courts are so overwhelmed right now that they're making swift, hard decisions without much time to think things through. We are at the whim of our overburdened trustees and whatever they can think of to lighten their load. From reading some attorney blogs, it seems that nobody really understand the stimulus checks and the legalities. It's all a crap shoot at this time.

One thing I know for certain is that taking these checks away from people does nothing but stimulate corrupt corporations. I'm grateful to the bone for the second chance I've been given, and I don't take it lightly. But at the same time I'm bitter to the bone that the outrageous practices of lenders inflated my debt beyond all reasonable boundaries, and that so many jobs were pulled out from under us that would have allowed us to pay our bills. We did pay our bills, plus a reasonable amount of interest for borrowing the money. What we didn't pay were the ever-increasing and capricious interest rates, late fees on payments that were not late, and the "creative bookkeeping" of our mortgage lender. Putting the stimulus checks into the hands of this administration's corporate darlings just doesn't make sense.

I should change my screename to InfinatelyFrustrated :-)