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One thing nobody mentioned yet - if you have tax liens already filed against your property, bankruptcy gets more complicated. Even if the underlying tax debt qualifies for discharge, pre-existing tax liens can survive bankruptcy and remain attached to your property. Also, make sure your bankruptcy attorney knows tax law or works with someone who does. I filed bankruptcy in 2023 and my attorney missed some nuances about my tax situation that ended up costing me. Not all bankruptcy attorneys understand the tax implications deeply enough.
Do tax liens show up on credit reports? And if the tax debt gets discharged but the lien remains, what does that actually mean in practice?
Tax liens no longer appear on credit reports as of 2018 when the credit bureaus removed them from reports. Good news on that front! If your tax debt gets discharged but the lien remains, it means you don't personally owe the debt anymore, but the lien still attaches to any property you owned when the lien was filed. In practice, this means you'll still need to deal with the lien if you want to sell the property. The lien effectively makes the property itself responsible for the debt, even though you personally aren't. It's confusing but important - you might be "debt free" but your house might not be!
Don't forget about state taxes! Everyone's talking about IRS debt but state tax debt has different rules for bankruptcy discharge. Some states follow the federal rules, others have their own standards that make discharge harder. Also, keep filing your current taxes on time even while dealing with bankruptcy. New tax debt created during or after bankruptcy definitely won't be discharged.
Thanks for bringing up state taxes. Does anyone know if tax penalties can be discharged more easily than the actual tax debt itself? I've heard the rules are different.
Yes, tax penalties and interest often have different discharge rules than the underlying tax debt! Generally, penalties related to dischargeable taxes can also be discharged if they meet the same timing requirements. However, penalties for fraud or willful evasion can never be discharged. Interest that accrued before the bankruptcy filing on dischargeable taxes is usually also dischargeable. But interest that continues to accrue during the bankruptcy process typically isn't. This is why Chapter 13 can be beneficial - it often stops penalty and interest accrual during the repayment period, even on non-dischargeable tax debt. The key is understanding which penalties you're dealing with. Failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties on old enough returns might qualify, but trust fund recovery penalties or fraud penalties won't.
Has anyone here actually had problems filing with printed copies of W-2s instead of originals? I'm curious because I've been doing that for years (I always scan my W-2s and print copies to file) and never had an issue. I don't think the IRS actually cares as long as all the information is legible.
I'm dealing with a similar situation right now! I'm working in Japan and had to file by mail for the first time. One thing I learned that might help - when you print out the photos of your W-2s, make sure they're printed at full size and as high quality as possible. If the photos are blurry or the text is too small to read clearly, that could cause processing delays. Also, I'd suggest including a cover letter explaining your situation briefly - something like "I am currently working overseas and only have access to digital copies of my W-2 forms. I have completed Form 4852 as a substitute and am including printed copies of the original W-2 photographs for verification." Keep it simple and professional. One more tip - double-check that all the information from your W-2 photos matches exactly what you entered on Form 4852. Even small discrepancies in dollar amounts or employer info could trigger questions from the IRS. Good luck with your filing!
Make sure you file as Head of Household if you're eligible! If you're unmarried, paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the year, and your daughter lived with you for more than half the year, you qualify. The HOH filing status gives you a higher standard deduction and better tax rates than filing as Single.
Also look into the Child Tax Credit and the Child and Dependent Care Credit if you're paying for daycare. Those can be significant! The CTC is worth up to $2,000 per qualifying child, and a portion of it is refundable even if you don't owe taxes.
Document everything now while it's fresh! Keep records of: - School enrollment showing your address - Medical records with your address as primary contact - Daycare receipts and records - Any text messages where he acknowledges she lives with you - Bank statements showing you pay for her expenses - Utility bills showing she lives at your address Also, consider filing early if possible. While the IRS will sort out duplicate claims, getting your return in first can help avoid delays. If he does try to claim her and your e-filed return gets rejected, you can always mail in a paper return with all your supporting documentation. The stress is real, but you're clearly the custodial parent here. Your ex paying sporadic child support doesn't give him the right to claim her when she lives with you full-time. Stay strong and don't let him bully you into signing away your legitimate tax benefits!
I almost paid $1,200 for a CPA to do a 1041 for my dad's estate but decided to try it myself. Best decision ever. Took about 6 hours of research and careful work, but I managed it fine. The trick is understanding that a 1041 is fundamentally about tracking income earned during estate administration. The property sale might be the most complex part, but if you have the date-of-death value documented, it's just a matter of accurately reporting the numbers.
For a relatively straightforward estate like yours, the 1041 is definitely doable yourself with some patience and research. I handled my grandmother's estate last year - similar situation with dividends, interest, and a house sale. The key things that helped me: 1) Get the property appraised as of the date of death for your stepped-up basis calculation, 2) Keep meticulous records of all estate expenses (legal fees, appraisal costs, etc. are deductible), and 3) Don't rush - take time to understand each section. The biggest "gotcha" I encountered was properly timing distributions to beneficiaries. If you distribute assets before the end of the tax year, you need to account for that differently than if you wait until after year-end. Given that your uncle passed in November, you're only dealing with about 1.5 months of 2024 estate activity, which should make it more manageable. The IRS Publication 559 (Survivors, Executors, and Administrators) walks through most of the concepts you'll need. $1,350 for what sounds like a relatively simple estate does seem excessive, especially when you'd face the same cost again next year.
This is really helpful, thank you! The timing aspect you mentioned about distributions is something I hadn't considered. Since we're still in the process of settling everything and haven't made any distributions to beneficiaries yet, would it be better to wait until after December 31st to distribute? Or does it not matter much for a simple estate like this? Also, when you mention keeping records of estate expenses - do things like utility bills for maintaining the property count as deductible expenses, or just the major items like legal fees and appraisals?
Amina Diop
22 Does anyone know if the forms auto-save on Free Fillable Forms? I'm having the same login issues, but I'm wondering if my information will still be there if I eventually get back in, or if I should just give up and use TurboTax or something?
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Amina Diop
ā¢4 They do auto-save, but only if you clicked "Save" before logging out last time. If you just closed the browser without explicitly saving, you might have lost some work. I'd recommend trying the different browsers approach someone mentioned above before switching to paid software.
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Jessica Suarez
I went through this exact same issue last month! The login loop is incredibly frustrating. What finally worked for me was completely clearing all browser data (not just cookies - everything including cache and stored passwords), then restarting my browser and trying again. Also, make sure you're not using any browser extensions like password managers or autofill tools when logging in - these can interfere with the site's authentication. If that doesn't work, try using an incognito/private browsing window. Sometimes the site has conflicts with stored session data. The Free Fillable Forms site is notoriously finicky, especially during peak season. I also found that waiting until very early morning (like 5-6 AM) when server traffic is lowest helped me get through. Don't panic about the deadline - if worst comes to worst, you can always file for an extension to give yourself more time to sort this out!
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