Learning ins and outs of bankruptcy during tax season
Who says lightning doesn’t strike twice? In the past few weeks I have been asked two separate questions not once but twice that I haven’t heard of in a long time.
The first one dealt with bankruptcy and income tax liabilities with the IRS. I guess with the economy the way it is, more people are planning or have gone though bankruptcy. The income taxes owed can be discharged in bankruptcy if they are at least three years old when the petition is filed. The three year period starts from the time the tax return was filed even though this might be later than the statutory date. But the discharge will not exempt the taxpayer from fraud penalties and it will not forgive payroll taxes and trust fund taxes. (See below) It will include late filing penalties. If there was any property that was originally attached by the IRS and not sold at a tax sale still belongs to the taxpayer. But if he goes bankrupt the title than goes over to the trustee. Bankruptcy can have a greater long term effect on the taxpayer than working out a payment plan with the IRS. Bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 10 years and will have an impact on car loans, (paying a higher interest rate) and difficulty in obtaining a mortgages and credit card(s). One condition that must be met is the proof that all taxes have been filed for the past four years.
No need for SOPA, VeriSign seizes bodog.com for US authorities
The Department of Homeland Security has seized the domain of online gambling website bodog.com after the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland unsealed a two-part indictment Monday.
It is the result of data and intelligence gathered during an investigation by the FBI and IRS dating back as far as 2006, which also included the assistance of a former employee. Four persons working for the entertainment company stand accused of conducting an online sports betting business in violation of the Illegal Gambling Business Act as well as engaging in a money laundering conspiracy.
Interestingly, bodog.com is run by Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre and the domain was purchased through a Canadian registrar. None of the defendants are believed to be US citizens. US authorities never approached the Canadian registrar to enforce the seizure, instead they used .com and .net domain operator VeriSign to alter the "glue" records and take down the website, according to the seizure warrant (PDF) paperwork.
Recently unsealed federal court documents show that FBI and IRS agents seized over $300000, boxes of tax documents, computers, vehicles and even a stuffed
