How do I love thee, Chapter 13? Let me count the ways. Hang on, because it’s a long list. Thirteen reasons Chapter 13 rocks. I love Chapter 13 because: 1. Debtors keep control of their assets. They run their businesses. There is no trustee tasked to sell their assets. 2. Repayment to creditors […]
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California Income Tax Deadlines Extended
California’s Franchise Tax Board postponed until July 15, 2020, the filing and tax payment deadlines for all individuals and business entities . This special tax relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic for all California taxpayers was announced on March 18, 2020 covering 2019 tax returns 2019 tax return payments 2020 1st and 2nd quarter estimate […]
IRS Pandemic Relief in Taxing Times
In normal times, this would be tax season. Not this year; these aren’t normal times. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has already had a significant effect on our personal and professional lives. Between states and localities implementing “shelter-in-place” orders, commercial activity grinding to a near halt, and the stock market seeing massive losses, the United States […]
Five Tax Tips For Two Cents
The tax filing deadline approaches. So why is a bankruptcy lawyer talking about taxes? I’ve found over three decades as a bankruptcy lawyer that there’s a surprising degree of overlap between bankruptcy and tax . All too often, it’s tax troubles that brings a family to me for help. Here’s my two cents on what […]
How Consumer Remedies Were Gutted By Little- Noticed Tax Code Changes
Tax code changes effective in 2018 inflicted a crippling blow to consumers who must sue to enforce their rights. And few have yet noticed. The tax deduction for miscellaneous itemized deductions under IRC Section 212 is gone. So now, consumers who prevail under statutes that award attorneys fees to the successful plaintiff are denied a […]
Chapter 13 Dismissed After All Payments Are Made: Self Inflicted Wounds
There’s been a rash of bullet-ridden feet lately in Chapter 13 cases. Debtors seem to whip out their pistols and shoot themselves in the foot with increasing regularity. Just when their goal of keeping the house was within reach, had they paid attention, they lose it all. It happens when debtors don’t hold up their […]
Collection Suits and Court Dates
Those in financial difficulty are frequently not operating at their peak. I know that. But for the life of me, I can’t understand how the recipient of a summons and complaint from a California court can read the papers and absorb only that they have a “court date”. Arghhh! How California lawsuit works The basic […]
Divorce And The Ticking Debt Bomb
Debts of the marriage often outlive the marriage itself. And, those left-over debts are nothing but trouble. But too often, divorcing couples don’t mop up the joint debts they held during the marriage, only to have the situation blows up years later when one ex-spouse hits financial trouble. Here’s a true story that illustrates the danger. […]
3 Real Reasons Chapter 13 Plans Fail
Two out of three confirmed Chapter 13 cases fail. Those are cases that met all the tests and got the judge’s OK. And still they crater. That’s a heap of people, deeply in debt, who don’t make it out of debt by using Chapter 13. Arizona bankruptcy lawyer John Skiba has a theory about […]
Hidden Dangers In Tapping The Reverse Mortgage Piggybank
Actor Fred Thompson used to appear on my Sunday morning news program every week touting the benefits of a “government insured”, safe, reverse mortgage. Get the money you deserve to live the good life, he urged. I’m watching the aftermath of that sales pitch play out for one of my clients, and it’s not “the […]