Accounting News and Notes

Duluth/Gwinnett/Norcross CPA: Can Forgiven Debt Not Be Included in Income?

What Qualifies as Exclusion for Income for Forgiven Debt?

How do I find out how much debt was forgiven?

If your debt was forgiven the lender of that debt should notify you with IRS From 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt which is to be issued for the prior calendar tax year by January 31st of the following year. The amount of debt forgiven along with the address, their EIN, will be listed on your Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debit when it is received.

Exclusion of debt on second home, credit card or car loans?

Generally speaking under the IRS’s first set of criteria, you may not exclude these debts. The only debts that can be excluded are those that came from the building or improving of your principal residence or debt retained in the process of those things. IRS publication 4861 at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p4681/index.html can help you to defer between what can be excluded and what cannot.

If some of my forgiven debt doesn’t qualify for one exclusion, could it qualify for another exclusion?

If the debt doesn’t qualify under the normal exclusion then there is a possibility it could qualify under the Insolvency Exclusion. You qualify as insolvent when your liabilities exceed your gains from assets. In some cases if you have declared bankruptcy or if you qualified for real property indebtedness. Form 982 at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f982.pdf  will help you sort through possible qualifications for debt exclusions and can be found through the IRS.

If I lost money in the foreclosure of my home can I claim loss on my return?

Unfortunately you cannot claim loss because the foreclosure of property is not considered to be deductible as it is deemed by tax law to be a personal rather than a business loss or other itemized deduction.

If in the selling of my home I came out with a loss and the remainder of the loan was forgiven, does it count as a constitution of debt?

You have cancellation if your lender in any way cancels the remaining debt that you owed. If the debt is $600 or more the lender should most likely use Form 1099-C to notify with the amount of debt that was canceled. If you claimed or were insolvent right before the cancellation of the debt you may be able to waive this income through a Form 11 bankruptcy case.

What if my remaining debt on my mortgage was canceled after my foreclosure, should I still exclude the debt under principal residence although I don’t own the residence anymore?

If the debt was classified as principal residence officially then you should still claim it as so. Publication 4861 at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p4681/ar01.html from the IRS can help you to run through these issues.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 9:05 am and is filed under Income Tax Preparation of Corporate & Personal Income Taxes.
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