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THE CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY LETTER |
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In This Issue:
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July 12 2004
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DISCHARGING TAXES MADE SIMPLE!
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THE TAX DISCHARGE UPDATE LETTER
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NO LEGISLATIVE ACTION SEEN
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LAWYER SANCTIONED - NEW DEBTOR SYNDROME
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$ BILLIONS IN CREDIT CARD PENALTIES
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KING BANKRUPTCY ACADEMY SCHEDULES 3-DAY SEMINARS ON DISCHARGING TAXES - LAS VEGAS, SAN FRANCISCO & SAN ANTONIO
The first dates scheduled for the 5th annual Bankruptcy Academy program on discharging taxes in bankruptcy cases have been scheduled for
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, on Sept. 8, 9 and 10, 2004;
FISHERMAN'S WHARF, S. F., on October 27, 28 & 29, 2004,
SAN ANTONIO, Texas, January 27, 28 & 29, 2005.
Additional 2005 dates are pending for Atlanta, Georgia, and Boston, Mass.
Principal presenters will be; Morgan King, attorney and author of Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy; Charles F. Rosen, former chief of the Los Angeles IRS office of Special Procedures (bankruptcy, insolvency); Eric M. Casper, formerly Senior Trial Attorney, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice - Washington, D.C.; and Robert N. Kolb, formerly with the IRS and recently the prevailing attorney for the debtor/taxpayer in two important appellate cases.
The 3-day seminar and workshop will be a thorough exploration of bankruptcy remedies for delinquent taxes and tax liens in consumer bankruptcy cases (chapter 7 and chapter 13), emphasizing practical handlng of tax discharge cases from A-to-Z.
CLE ACCREDITATION
Previous programs have qualified for CLE in all states for which CLE accreditation was requested. The Academy is applying for attorneys' CLE accreditation in all states for which CLE is mandatory. We are also applying for CPE accreditation from the IRS for enrolled agents, as well as CPE with the national association of CPAs.
TUITION
Single attorney registration $645 until Aug. 2 (then $695)
Double attorney registration $995 (saves $400!)
Paralegal or other office staff $350
Enrolled agent or CPA $495
For more information about the Tax Discharge program, or to enroll, click on red below or call (925) 829-6460 west coast time.
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CREDIT CARD COMPANIES PILE UP $11.7 BILLION REVENUE IN PENALTIES IN 2003
Card users, consumer advocates and some industry experts complain that banks are attempting to squeeze more and more revenue from consumers struggling to make ends meet. Instead of cutting these people off as bad credit risks, banks are letting them spend -- and then hitting them with larger penalties for running up their credit, going over their credit limits, paying late and getting cash advances.
"People think they are being swindled," says industry consultant Duncan MacDonald, formerly a lawyer for the credit-card division of Citigroup Inc.
Cardweb.com, a consulting group that tracks the card industry, says credit-card fees, including those from retailers, rose to 33.4 percent of total credit-card revenue in 2003. That was up from 27.9 percent in 2000 and just 16.1 percent in 1996.
The average monthly late fee hit $32.01 in May, up from $30.29 a year earlier and $13.30 in May 1996, the company said. In 2003, the credit-card industry reaped $11.7 billion from penalty fees, up 9 percent from $10.7 billion a year earlier, according to Robert Hammer, an industry consultant.
SOURCE: Mitchell Pacelle, The Wall Street Journal
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SENIOR CITIZENS SINKING UNDER COST OF LIVING
Stuart D. Zimring, president of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, said he's seeing more older couples who get into financial problems because "cash flow is not keeping pace with the cost of living, particularly the cost of health care."
A study by Harvard University's Consumer Bankruptcy Project found that the actual number of seniors filing for bankruptcy is still quite small. In 2001, just 82,207 bankruptcy petitioners - or 4.6 percent of the total 1.8 million - were 65 and older, the study found.
Still, it was the fastest-growing group, the Harvard study said.
By Eileen Alt Powell
The Associated Press
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Keep up-to-date on the ever-changing laws regarding discharging taxes in bankruptcy with Morgan King's Tax Discharge Update E-Letter!
Sent monthly directly to your PC, the e-letter reports all significant new case decisions, legislative enactments, and IRS policy changes relevant to tax discharge. Categories of information include discharge in Chapter 7, discharge in Chapter 13, tax liens and levies, automatic stay, transcripts, tax litigation in BK court, and practice tips.
For those who already have King's book, Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy, each section of the e-letter references the applicable section in the book covering the respective topic, and thus is a monthly supplemental update for the book.
Subscription fee is $65/year, or about $5.40 per month (about the price of a burger and coffee).
For a sample of the most recent Update E-Letter, click on image at right.
To subscribe, click on red, below.
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DEBTOR'S ATTORNEY SANCTIONED FOR FILING BK WITH NO ASSETS & NO LIABILITIES
This Court found that Mr. Daniels signed a bankruptcy petition and filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case in the name of a debtor that owned no assets and had no liabilities. The assets and liabilities listed in the bankruptcy schedules were those of Mr. and Mrs. Hood, not Hutton Valley Farms.
The debtor was purportedly formed just prior to the filing in order to hold the real estate subject to the Bank of Houston’s lien, yet no record of a transfer of the real estate was recorded. The debtor was formed, and the case was filed, for the sole purpose of stopping the foreclosure sale, since section 109(g) of the Bankruptcy Code specifically forbade another filing by Mr. and Mrs. Hood for 180 days from the date of the voluntary dismissal of their Chapter 13 case. The debtors' attorney stated that he was not familiar with a line of cases that hold that, if a debtor transfers all of its assets to another entity and then puts that entity into bankruptcy, unless there is an attempt to treat the new entity as a separate business as a practical matter, the filing is meant to frustrate creditors and abuse the bankruptcy system.
This phenomenon is known as the “new debtor syndrome” and such cases are routinely dismissed as a bad faith filing [citing Meadowbrook Investors’ Group v. Thirtieth Place, Inc. (In re Thirtieth Place, Inc.), 30 B.R. 503, 505-06 (9th Cir. B.A.P. 1983)].
The court sanctioned the debtor's attorney to pay $3,872.77 in fees incurred by the creditor on account of the bad faith filing.
In re Hutton Valley Farms, __ B.R. __ (Bkrtcy.W.D.Missouri 2004)
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PUBLISHED BY KING BANKRUPTCY MEDIA FOR BANKRUPTCY PROFESSIONALS 7080 Donlon Way Suite 222 Dublin California 94568 (925) 829-6460
© King Bankruptcy Media 2004 CONTACT US AT editor@bankruptcymedia.com
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