More details to this question:
Can you keep your refund if you have filed for Chapter 7 that year?
10 ANSWERS
It depends on if you can find an exemption to protect your entire refund check. Your EIC is fully exempt, and you can utilize your remaining wildcard exemption to protect any non-EIC portion of your refund. Any nonexempt portion of your tax refund will have to be turned over to your bankruptcy trustee to pay your creditors.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 1:15 PM
Bankruptcy Attorney serving Livonia, MI
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Charles J. Schneider, P.C.
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Depends on the amount and the remaining amount of exemptions available if any.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 9:59 AM
2 Awards
It depends. The trustee will pro rate the return depending upon how many months passed prior to filing your petition in that year. You have a $1,000 wild card exemption in Nevada so you can claim up to $1,000 of the refund as exempt and keep it. If the refund is based upon a unified credit it is fully exempt.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 9:27 AM
Bankruptcy Attorney serving Walnut Creek, CA
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Alan E. Ramos Law Offices
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Generally, you can only keep your tax refund if you can exempt it. There are exceptions, but that is the typical result.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 4:00 AM
Bankruptcy Law Attorney serving Livingston, NJ
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Law Office of Stuart M. Nachbar, P.C.
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It depends on whether or not you are able to exempt it out, either under the wildcard or homestead depending on your state.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 3:56 AM
Deborah F. Bowinski
Your trustee will probably take a portion of your next refund depending upon when in the year you file.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 3:54 AM
Debt Settlement Attorney serving San Diego, CA
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Law Offices of Kathryn Tokarska
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The answer depends if you listed the anticipated refund on your petition and had enough exemption to cover it as exempt. Sometimes, this detail gets left out of Schedule B, however the debtor has enough exemption to cover such potential refund so the Trustee doesn't raise the point in the case. Typically the Trustees start raising the point of undisclosed tax refunds in cases that are filed close to the end of the year, since by then refunds have had a chance to accumulate to perhaps significant enough amounts, up to the April filing deadline and beyond if the debtor did not file return on 4/15. If you think about it, when you withhold for taxes more than what you actually pay in taxes, you are putting savings into non interest bearing account held by the IRS and the money comes back to you after you file the return. Any such "savings" that you have at the time of the filing of your bankruptcy case are an asset and should be listed on the petition.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 3:51 AM
Bankruptcy Attorney serving Buford, GA
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Kenneth A. Parker, PC
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When you file a Chapter 7, you keep all your exempt property. If you have exemptions available, you would keep the tax refund, but it depends on how big the refund will be.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 3:44 AM
Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney serving Appleton, WI
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Sisson & Kachinsky Law Offices
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It could be intercepted by the trustee.
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 3:43 AM
Depends on a number of things including: What tax year and when did you file bk? When was your return filed? Did you receive your discharge? Is your bankruptcy closed? Did you list the refund on your schedules? Did you exempt the refund?
Answered on Oct 09th, 2013 at 3:40 AM