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CH 13: If you want to keep your income tax refund.

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    CH 13: If you want to keep your income tax refund.

    At my Trustee's insistence, my confirmation order clearly states that I must provide him with copies of my income tax returns within 10 days of filing and surrender all income tax refunds to him during the term of my plan. It's cut and dried, black and white and unquestionable.

    Normally this is not a big deal to me. I don't bank with the IRS and my refunds are normally only for a minimal amount. But this year, I received some unexpected several hundred dollars in tax credits, and I wanted to keep my refund due to extraordinary expenses not provided for in my budget and schedules.

    So, I filed a motion with my bankruptcy court to retain my 2010 income tax refund, before I actually filed my tax return. I was quite pleasantly surprised when the Trustee filed a comment of NO OBJECTION, but he did also note that he thought my Motion was the improper vehicle for my request and I should have filed a modification of my plan instead of motion.

    However, I had also stipulated in my motion that no other modifications were contemplated.

    Two full weeks out of suspense, the judge finally approved my order.

    Why the heck it took so long? The clerk speculated that he might be taking time to research the issue that the Trustee had raised. And... the judge added one sentence to my prepared order indicating that it constituted a modification of my plan.

    So my advice to anyone who has this question come up, if your confirmation order stipulates that you have to turn over your refund to the trustee, and you want to keep your income tax refund, either file a plan modification to request it, or decrease your deductions so you don't have so much going to the IRS in the first place. The latter would not have helped me a bit, as my refund was due to tax credits.

    YMMV. Not all Trustees and Judges might be as agreeable and easy to work with as mine are, but this is what worked for me. Good luck!

    #2
    tiger is becoming a better Chapter 13 litigator than myself!
    Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
    Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
    Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

    Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by justbroke View Post
      tiger is becoming a better Chapter 13 litigator than myself!
      Oh, puhleeeze! Not hardly, jb! But my plan is just the way I like it, and everything is still on the right track. If this motion counts as a plan modification, I have had two successful uncontested modifications, and that makes me feel pretty good!

      Comment


        #4
        I guess the point I wanted to make here, for other Pro Se filers, is not to think their confirmation order is etched in granite. Everything can be changed, you just have to work within the system and use the proper means to ask for modifications. And to file a plan modification instead of a motion if they want to keep their income tax refunds. I think that "mistake" on my part, although workable by the judge, caused my order to be delayed two weeks because he probably had to research it. Although I don't even know that for certain. The clerk also said the delay could have just been a caseload back log.

        Comment


          #5
          I think it was a combination of caseload and the question that the Trustee posed. In the end, judges are required to construe pro se debtor papers liberally. That is, if you don't know the specific procedure or how to, but actually asked for something in a paper (whether it is a well written motion or not), the judge should take into consideration what you're really asking for.

          By the way, a plan modification is still by motion. The fact that you filed "a motion" was probably why the judge felt comfortable with granting the request.
          Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
          Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
          Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

          Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

          Comment


            #6
            My plan was filed by a lawyer, but he "resigned" and now I'm pro se. I started off on an 86% plan, but I converted a few months later after I got a good raise. Once I was 100%, my lawyer said I was pretty much free of oversight by the trustee. I have never filed a copy of my tax return and the trustee has never asked for one, although I get a form letter every year reminding me to send it in. I suppose all trustees are different... mine is in LA.

            Comment


              #7
              Be very cautious. We had one BKforum member who ignored the letters only to find out, at the END of his Chapter 13, that the Trustee found that he wasn't in compliance, demanded the back returns, and filed a motion to dismiss.

              Hopefully, you really are in a 100% plan and your case is still "feasible". I don't understand how attorneys are allowed to bow out of a Chapter 13. My District in Florida specifically sent a "reminder" to all members of the bar admitted to practice before the US District Court that they have that obligation.
              Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
              Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
              Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

              Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

              Comment


                #8
                I tend to do everything early and often, including giving my Trustee a copy of my income tax return. I emailed a copy and mailed a copy. When the reminder letter comes anyway, (after the tax filing deadline) I use that as an excuse to follow up with his assistant to make sure she has it on file, because they tend to misplace stuff.

                If your order stipulates that you MUST, then you MUST, and it isn't really all that difficult to simply make another copy when you are filing and send it off. NOTE: It gets sent to the Trustee's office, not filed with the court.

                Comment


                  #9
                  JB, that's a very useful bit of advice. My instinct is to send a letter to the judge and inquire about that. At the time it happened, I wrote a letter objecting to my lawyer's action unless he refunded his fee, but I was nervous about making waves and I didn't send it. My lawyer behaved abominably, and I kept a log of everything. I needed Court approval to get two cars to replace the ones we had, because the leases were expiring. My lawyer completely ignored my repeated requests to get this started.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    HOW do you file a modification to keep your tax refund? Is it a mod or a motion? My half of a married filing jointly refund is less than a thousand bucks. I have filed chap 7 individual b/k. I have already had my 341 and did not have my share of the refund. Please let me know if when, or how I can mod or file a motion to keep my share of the refund! My case is still listed at PACER as no asset.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      This is District and Trustee specific, but generally, you send a letter to the Trustee seeking to keep the refund. However, you also SURRENDER the check to the Trustee at the same time! You then modify the Plan to exclude the tax refund for that year. The modification will go before the judge. The Trustee will either object or file a Consent.
                      Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
                      Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
                      Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

                      Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

                      Comment

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