AboutLos Angeles Bankruptcy Lawyer Leon D. Bayer Expertise Personal and small business bankruptcy. Mr. Bayer has successfully handled thousands of bankruptcy cases. You can view his personal web site at:
Publications Author, ?The Essentials Of Chapter 13,? Daily Journal Report, December 18, 1987.
Contributing Editor, Basic Bankruptcy, California Practice Handbook, Matthew Bender 1992, 1993.
CEB Consultant, CEB-Personal and Small Business Bankruptcy Practice in California, 2003.
Awards and Honors President, 1995-1996-Los Angeles Bankruptcy Forum; Member - Los Angeles County Bar Association Committee on Commercial Law & Bankruptcy, 1988. Law Advisory
Commission-Personal & Small Business Bankruptcy Law of the State Bar of California, 1996-2000
MR. BAYER SAYS: The big banks and credit card companys have been working overtime for many years to undermine the Consitutional right of the American people to be able to claim bankruptcy protection. In 2005 the banking lobby successfully convinced Congress and the President to make the laws and proceedures more complicated, hopeing that it will stymie legitimate people from filing bankruptcy. They succeeded in gaining these complex new legal proceedures by greasing the legislative system with hundreds of millions of dollars in "campaign contributions." The good news for the American people is that while the new laws have made the proceedures needlessly complex to the point where inexperienced people can't help but trip over the maze of new rules and regulations, the process is still doable, especially with a lawyer who is well trained and experienced in this specialty.
Question MY HUSBAND FILED BANKRUPTCY IN 2007 FOR EMPLOYEE TAXES AND SHUT HIS BUSINESS DOWN. tHE IRS IS NOW SAYING THAT IF HE FILES PERSONAL BANKRUPTCY THAT THE MONEY HE OWES WILL STILL BE OWED AND THEY WILL GARNISH HIS CHECK. iS THERE ANYWAY TO GET OUT OF PAYING THIS DEBT IF FINANCIALLY YOU ARE NOT EVEN ABLE TO PAY THE BASIC BILLS YOU ALREADY HAVE? tHEY ARE SAYING THAT HE WOULD BE LEFT WITH $200.OO EACH WEEK AFTER THEY GARNISH HIS CHECK. Also I was wondering if we have only been married for 5 years and I never had anything to do with his business, (he had the business for years before we got married)then can the irs come after me?
I generally can't answer a question like yours, because I don't have the opportunity to review all the papers and speak with you. Because of that, there can be a risk of overlooking something. I do advise you to consult a good local attorney immediately. However, what I can do is provide you with some discussion points for you to raise when you meet with an attorney. An attorney who has the actual opportunity to meet with you and review all the papers is the only person who can advise you.
That said, here are my observations, which you can discuss with your own attorney. Employer payroll taxes are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. The reason is because those taxes represent money that was withheld from the employees paychecks, and it is required to held in trust by the employer for the benefit of the employees and the government and paid quarterly to the government. The government is required to credit those employee tax withholdings as "paid" to the government even though the IRS never received it. (It would be just like somebody setting up a trust fund for you, and then you learn that the person supervising the fund has spent it on himself and can't give you the money that belongs to you.)
However, your husband might be able to seek an "offer in compromise" with the IRS to try and settle for something affordable. Sometimes they cut you a very nice deal.
You will have to ask a CPA or tax attorney whether the IRS can come after you. It may depend on facts such as whether the business was a sole proprietorship, and the kind of marital property laws that are in the state where you live. My guess, based on what you said, is that the IRS won't go after you for the payroll taxes, but please be guided by what your own lawyer or CPA advises you.
I sure hope everything works out OK for both of you.
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