Monthly Archives: July 2012

The 3.8% Medicare surtax won’t apply to all home sale profits after 2012

Many readers tell us they’ve received e-mails or read newspaper articles asserting that gains on all home sales will be hit by a 3.8% tax. This is incorrect. Most gains on sales of primary residences will be exempt. Only the … Continue reading

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Employer-provided cell phones are tax free fringes, the Service says

As long as companies give the phones to workers primarily for business reasons, employees won’t be taxed on either the business or personal use of the phones. Thus, workers will not need to keep a log of their business and … Continue reading

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Provin Notice to Debt Collectors

Debt collectors often dispute receiving communications, written or verbal, that consumers believe they conveyed. There is no certain way to avoid disputes over a debt collector’s receipt of a consumer’s communication, whether it be a TCPA revocation of consent, a … Continue reading

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Chapter 13- Confirmation of plan- Good faith

Because Code §§1325(b)(1)(A), (B) give a chapter 13 debtor the option of either paying the debtor’s projected disposable income over the applicable commitment period or paying the debtor’s unsecured creditors in full, a plan that pays the debtor’s creditors in … Continue reading

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IRS continutes to go after S corporations that pay low salaries to owners

Many owners of S companies take low salaries so the bulk of the profits are passed through to their own returns free of Social Security and Medicare taxes. IRS and the courts balk at this practice. In a recent case, … Continue reading

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Job Search Expenses Can be Tax Deductible

Summertime is the season that often leads to major life decisions, such as buying a home, moving or a job change. If you are looking for a new job that is in the same line of work, you may be … Continue reading

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Chapter 13- Confirmation of plan- Treatment of secured claims- Valuation of collateral

Neither the Bankruptcy Code nor the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure allocates the burden of proof as to the value of secured claims under Code §506(a). Concluding that a burden-shifting approach was the most appropriate, the Third Circuit Court of … Continue reading

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Chapter 13– Confirmation of plan– Calculation of projected disposable income

Addressing one of the significant issues still open regarding the calculation of a Chapter 13 debtor’s projected disposable income, the court said that, while Code §1325(b)(3) requires that the determination of the expenses for an above-median debtor be made in … Continue reading

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Credit counseling– Completion on petition date:

As part of the Bankruptcy Technical Corrections Act of 2010, Bankruptcy Code §109(h)(1) was amended so that it now requires credit counseling “during the 180-day period ending on the date of filing of the petition.” Unfortunately, the drafters may have … Continue reading

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Missouri Supreme Court Requires Debt Buyer to Produce a Real Records Custodian to Prove Standing

The Missouri Supreme Court recently reversed a judgment for a debt buyer for failing to provide competent evidence that it owned the debt on which it sued. In CACH, L.L.C. v. Askew, the debt buyer, CACH, L.L.C. offered the testimony … Continue reading

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