Bankruptcy attorney Houston: The trustee’s job is to review your finances and assets and oversee your Chapter 7 bankruptcy. They will sell certain property the bankruptcy won’t let you keep (nonexempt property) and use the proceeds to repay your creditors. The trustee will also arrange and run a meeting between you and your creditors—called a creditor meeting—where you’ll go to a courthouse and answer questions about your filing.

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit: A tax credit is so much better than a tax deduction—it reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar. So missing one is even more painful than missing a deduction that simply reduces the amount of income that’s subject to tax. But it’s easy to overlook the child and dependent care credit if you pay your child care bills through a reimbursement account at work. The law allows you to run up to $5,000 of such expenses through a tax-favored reimbursement account at work. Up to $6,000 in care expenses can qualify for the credit, but the $5,000 from a tax favored account can’t be used. So if you run the maximum $5,000 through a plan at work but spend more for work-related child care, you can claim the credit on up to an extra $1,000. That would cut your tax bill by at least $200 using the minimum 20 percent of the expenses. The credit percentage goes up for lower income households. Read extra information at Bankruptcy attorney Houston TX.

Bunch Your Charitable Contributions: In 2019, married couples filing jointly have a standard deduction of $24,400. For single taxpayers, the standard deduction is $12,200. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which nearly doubled the standard deduction, also eliminated miscellaneous deductions, capped state and local tax deductions at $10,000 and limited mortgage interest deductions to loans of up to $750,000. These changes can make it difficult to itemize deductions unless someone has significant charitable donations. Powell suggests people bunch two years of contributions into a single year, which would allow them to claim an itemized deduction every other year. For those with the financial means, setting up a donor-advised fund may be ideal. “You get the deduction in the year you move the money (into the fund),” Powell says. However, charitable gifts from the fund can be spread out over time.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is like Chapter 11, which applies to businesses. In both cases, the petitioner submits a reorganization plan that safeguards assets against repossession or foreclosure and typically requests forgiveness of other debts. They both differ from the more extreme Chapter 7 filing, which liquidates all assets except those specifically protected. No bankruptcy filing eliminates all debts. Child support and alimony payments aren’t dischargeable, nor are student loans and unpaid taxes. But bankruptcy can clear away many other debts, though it will likely make it harder for the debtor to borrow in the future.