More details to this question:
I have been to a few Bankruptcy lawyers and have conflicting answers. I had delinquent personal income taxes from early 2000.I filed all years in 2005 with return receipts. My transcript report for those years shows "substitute for return" by IRS in 2004.I was told by one lawyer that this would make it not eligible for bankruptcy. A tax lawyer told me it would be eligible. What is the law in Louisiana? If it is an issue can the "SRF" be corrected? Some have said the SRF stays if the actual return was filed more than a year after, as Mississippi law states. I meet all the other requirements for bankruptcy tax discharge. (Chapter 7) Can anyone please help?
1 ANSWER
Bankruptcy Attorney serving Burbank, CA
Partner at
Law Office of Mark J. Markus
Reviews not shown
3 Awards
Discharge of taxes in bankruptcy is very complex area of law and is a subspecialty within the specialty of bankruptcy law.
The general rule of law, which does have some minor exceptions, at the moment is that once a substitute return is filed by the taxing agency, the tax is never dischargeable. The exceptions probably revolve around being able to "correct" the SRF, but again those scenarios are very limited and most of the court cases in the past 5 years are trending towards it never being dischargeable.
You need a bankruptcy tax specialist to analyze your case. I don't know any in Louisiana. We have a handful here in California. Morgan King is one, and you may want to check him out, although he may not be able to help since you're in another state.
You are asking the right questions though, which is more than most do.
Good luck!
Mark Markus has been practicing exclusively bankruptcy law in California since 1991. He is a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, AV-Rated by martindale.com, and A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.
Answered on Jun 14th, 2013 at 2:24 AM