No wonder people think “bankruptcy can’t help me with my tax debt.” Even attorneys sometimes perpetuate the myth.
A few days ago I saw a video of a bankruptcy attorney being interviewed in what amounted to be an infomercial. He was asked by the interviewer whether there were some debts that can’t be “touched” in a bankruptcy:
Attorney: “Absolutely. Things like child support, alimony, uh, tax debts, student loans. Those generally aren’t dischargeable.”
Interviewer: “So the government’s gonna help you eliminate some of the debt in a bankruptcy. But not the debt to them.”
Attorney: “Not theirs, of course!”
Lumping tax debts in with child support and alimony—which indeed cannot be legally written off, or discharged—is just plain wrong. For him to say that tax debts “generally aren’t dischargeable” while including it with other debts that are never dischargeable, or in the case of student loans very rarely dischargeable, is at best very confusing.
And no question, the merger of taxes and bankruptcy can be confusing, because each of these are rather complicated areas of law. Misinformation doesn’t help.
In my next few blogs, you’ll get some solid answers about what taxes can be discharged and what can’t. The fact is that bankruptcy can discharge taxes of many types and in many situations. Sometimes ALL of a taxpayer’s taxes can be discharged, or most of them. But there ARE significant limitations, which I will explain carefully.
But right now maybe the most important thing to understand is that even as to the particular taxes that may not be discharged, a bankruptcy still usually provides huge advantages in dealing with those taxes. So besides the possibility that you will be able to discharge some or all of your taxes, bankruptcy can also:
1. Keep the taxing authorities from garnishing your wages and bank accounts, and “levying on” (seizing) your personal and business assets.
2. Stop them from gaining greater leverage against you, through tax liens and piling on greater penalties and interest.
3. Avoid forcing you to pay them monthly payments based on totally unreasonable policies (such as giving no consideration to most of your other legal obligations), all the while penalties and interest continue to accrue.
Overall, bankruptcy gives you leverage against the IRS, or state or local taxing authority that you cannot get any other way. It gives you a lot more control over a very powerful class of creditors. And your tax problems are resolved as part of your whole financial package, so you don’t find yourself working hard to deal with your taxes while worrying about being blindsided by other creditors.
I’ll explain all this in my next blogs. Call me in the meantime if you can’t wait, or you know you shouldn’t wait. There is no kind of debt that needs more careful personal attention and advice than tax debts.