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Long Term Tax Savings When You File Bankruptcy Rather Than Settle Debts

By Cathy Moran

tax bite

Settle your debts outside of bankruptcy and you may be bitten by taxes you didn’t expect years later. Everyone I talk to would rather cut a deal with their creditors than file bankruptcy.  It’s universal. But here’s the killer reason why bankruptcy alone protects homeowners from a unexpected  tax consequence down the road. Debt forgiven […]

Filed Under: Considering Bankruptcy, Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2018, cancellation of debt tax

The Unexpected Loss When Tax Returns Filed Late

By Cathy Moran

late tax returns

File your tax returns really late and you may lose out on credit for toward your Social Security. Betcha didn’t know there was a connection between income taxes and your Social Security benefits.  This was a new one for me. I’ve written often about the negative consequences of putting off filing tax returns. But Harvard Law professor […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2018

Cut Tax Liens Down to Size

By Cathy Moran

tax liens

Tax liens are no match for Chapter 13 when it comes to cutting the lien down to its real value. On paper, a tax lien can quickly become huge. In bankruptcy however, a lien is no bigger than the value of the assets it attaches to. While in Chapter 7, liens pass through bankruptcy without […]

Filed Under: Consumer Rights, Taxes

California Law on Cancelled Debt Mirrors Federal Law

By Cathy Moran

  I’ve always assumed that California law excluded from income debt forgiven in bankruptcy, just as federal tax law does. When a client asked me to confirm that the treatment was the same, I realized that this was one of those things I had just assumed.  As a lawyer, I ought to know the danger […]

Filed Under: Strictly California, Taxes

Can IRS Really Collect Interest On Taxes Paid Through Chapter 13?

By Cathy Moran

interest on tax after bankruptcy

At the end of a Chapter 13, you may still owe some interest on taxes included in bankruptcy. But not nearly as often as the IRS would have you think. It’s a huge let down to think after all the payments in a Chapter 13, not everything went away.  But in a narrow slice of […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes Tagged With: 2016

Pay Or Go To Jail Tops IRS List Of Tax Scams

By Cathy Moran

The phone caller recites his IRS badge number. Then he demands immediate payment of “overdue taxes” by wire transfer or debit card. Fail to pay, he warns, and you will be arrested. Or lose your license. Or be deported. Absolutely horrifying. And absolutely untrue. Yet this scenario is repeated often enough that it made the top […]

Filed Under: Featured, Taxes

Scammers Spoof IRS To Get Your Info

By Cathy Moran

computer scam

Tax season saw a 400% rise in fake email to taxpayers pretending to be from the IRS. The scammers want you to click a link, give them information, or otherwise open yourself to identity theft. Identity theft and the diversion of tax refunds is the number one 2016 tax scam.  Fake email is third. Protect yourself […]

Filed Under: Taxes Tagged With: 2016

Claim Tax Deductions Lurking In Your Chapter 13

By Cathy Moran

  Tax deductions may be hiding in your Chapter 13. Did you file for an extension of time to file your income tax return? Well, time to get the return done is running out:  returns are due October 15th. If you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case, you may have deductions you haven’t considered […]

Filed Under: Chapter 13, Managing Money, Taxes

Time Running Out To Claim Prior Year Tax Breaks

By Cathy Moran

Time is running out on your 2011 tax return. Whaaaat?, you say.  You’re working on 2014 between now and April 15th. But if you’re one of those people who overlooked a tax deduction or, better yet, a tax credit like EITC, you’re running out of time to amend your 2011 return and capture some of that money. An […]

Filed Under: Taxes

Why Tax Software Is Lousy Purchase

By Cathy Moran

Why pay for Turbo Tax or its competitors when, odds are, you can get it for free? Unless you like burning money. Seventy percent of American taxpayers qualify for free tax software. If your income was $62,000 last year or less, you can use commercial tax filing software for free through the IRS FreeFile program. […]

Filed Under: Taxes

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About The Soapbox

You've arrived at the Bankruptcy Soapbox, a resource of bankruptcy information and consumer law.

Soapbox is a companion site to Bankruptcy in Brief, where I try to be largely explanatory and even handed (Note I said "try").

Here, I allow myself to tell stories and express strong opinions on how I think law should work for the consumer and small businesses when it comes to debt.

Moran Law Group
Bankruptcy specialists for individuals and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area

How Bankruptcy Works

High Income Earners Pass Bankruptcy’s Means Test

ALERT:   Being above the median income on the means test is not an automatic bar to filing bankruptcy I'm so used to railing against deliberate campaigns of misinformation about bankruptcy that I forget that there's a lot of innocent ignorance out there. Start with "qualifying" for bankruptcy. A very … Read more

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