Look Out for the Debt Settlement Tax - What to Do About It
If you're currently in debt and you may be thinking about negotiating with your creditors to settle your debts for less than you owe. What you may not know about debt settlement, though, is that it can have a significant impact on your taxes.
If you negotiated a settlement with your creditors, you're basically "earning" money from your debt. Here's how it works: If you took out a loan for $10,000 and couldn't pay it back, but negotiated with your creditors for them to accept $6,000 as full payment of your loan, you've pocketed $4,000 (the difference between how much you borrowed and how much you paid back). The IRS takes a close look at these kinds of loan repayments.
It's possible that at some point in the past, the U.S. tax laws allowed for this to happen with no tax implications. Unfortunately for you, the IRS is smart about such things, and has closed any loophole that may have existed in the tax law.
As I mentioned in the example above, settling credit card debt or any other debt for less than you owe your creditor will probably result in you being held liable for the "profit" you realize after paying off your debt. Keep this in mind when you file your taxes after settling your debts.
Even though this debt settlement tax may sound like a bad thing, you're still better off having settled your debt, even after taxes. In our example, you've realized a $4,000 "gain", but at most you'll have to pay about 30% (depending on your tax bracket). Even after you've paid the tax, though, you still only paid $7,200 in repayment of a $10,000 debt. That's a 28% discount, and is still a huge bargain.
Because the debt settlement tax comes as a surprise to many people, they don't do anything about it until the IRS comes to audit them. Don't let this hidden tax take you by surprise.
If you need any more details on how to deal with this tax, please check with your CPA or another tax expert. - 23229
If you negotiated a settlement with your creditors, you're basically "earning" money from your debt. Here's how it works: If you took out a loan for $10,000 and couldn't pay it back, but negotiated with your creditors for them to accept $6,000 as full payment of your loan, you've pocketed $4,000 (the difference between how much you borrowed and how much you paid back). The IRS takes a close look at these kinds of loan repayments.
It's possible that at some point in the past, the U.S. tax laws allowed for this to happen with no tax implications. Unfortunately for you, the IRS is smart about such things, and has closed any loophole that may have existed in the tax law.
As I mentioned in the example above, settling credit card debt or any other debt for less than you owe your creditor will probably result in you being held liable for the "profit" you realize after paying off your debt. Keep this in mind when you file your taxes after settling your debts.
Even though this debt settlement tax may sound like a bad thing, you're still better off having settled your debt, even after taxes. In our example, you've realized a $4,000 "gain", but at most you'll have to pay about 30% (depending on your tax bracket). Even after you've paid the tax, though, you still only paid $7,200 in repayment of a $10,000 debt. That's a 28% discount, and is still a huge bargain.
Because the debt settlement tax comes as a surprise to many people, they don't do anything about it until the IRS comes to audit them. Don't let this hidden tax take you by surprise.
If you need any more details on how to deal with this tax, please check with your CPA or another tax expert. - 23229
About the Author:
Sean Payne is just a normal guy who has learned through trial and error (and a lot of advice) how to get out of debt. Discover how to avoid the debt settlement tax at Sean's website, where you'll find a unique "get out of debt course" that really works.
posted by X - Men @ 2:28 AM
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