Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Basics

Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Procedure

For individuals (rather than businesses), there are two types of bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows debtors to wipe out most existing debt, but there are strict income thresholds to qualify. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a debt repayment agreement for higher-income people, that may or may not result in some of their debt being discharged at the end of the five year repayment plan.  This blog overviews the basics of Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy. Read more>>

Section 1031 Exchanges to Defer Capital Gains Tax

Taxes

Rising real estate prices create tax problems for owners selling property. While it’s great to sell at high prices, it’s also discouraging to pay big capital gains taxes on the proceeds. That “gain” – the difference between sales proceeds and the adjusted basis in the property (the amount paid for it originally) can be deferred with Section 1031 exchanges. But the rules are complex. Read more>>

IRS Enforcement Priorities: Pursue $900,000 or $9,000?

Tax Collection Issues, Taxes, Taxes in the News

The IRS’s enforcement priorities often appear – well – insane. Consider the cases of two current clients: one client owes the IRS $900,000, and the IRS thinks the other client owes $6,000 from a IRA distribution he took the year of the Woolsey Fire. We’re disputing the $6,000: Congress relaxed the rules for people in the disaster zone. Who’s the IRS going after? My client who had to evacuate from his house with the $9,000 tax bill. Huh? Seriously? Read more>>

Were Comey & McCabe IRS Audits Politically-Motivated? Unlikely

Audits, In the News, Taxes, Taxes in the News

I was a tax attorney at the IRS for a decade. So you know I’ve been all over the fascinating story that the IRS recently subjected  former FBI Directors James Comey and Andrew McCabe to its most invasive NRP audit. Comey and McCabe were famously fired and publicly abused by former President Trump. Suspicious minds now wonder whether IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, a Trump appointee, ordered the audits on these two men as a form of political retribution. Very unlikely. Here’s why.Read more>>

How Can Interest Accrue on Closed Credit Cards?

Bankruptcy, Debt

I have many bankruptcy/debt management clients whose credit cards have been closed, and they’re listed as closed on their credit report, but interest and late penalties keep getting tacked onto the balances due month after month. Huh? How is that even possible? I know it seems counterintuitive – that the credit card account is listed as “closed” but its outstanding balance keeps increasing. But it’s not. Read more>>