Wednesday, 2 October 2013

Debt Forgiveness Wonderful, Except At Tax Time

By Cornelius Nunev


Debt forgiveness is an excellent thing. A loan provider that chooses to forgive some part of one's loans is good, but it includes a caveat. The hitch is that the pardoned debt is handled and taxed as income by the Internal Revenue Service, which will hurt come tax season.

Not so good news from the federal government

Millions of people breathe sighs of relief annually when granted debt forgiveness. Also called debt relief, debt cancellation, it's where a loans lender of some sort, like a credit card company, home loan lender or whomever, agrees to forgive a debt if the borrower agrees to pay off a portion, typically on a condensed payment schedule.

When it comes to debt forgiveness, the Wall Street Journal reports that many people will be annoyed to hear the government considers that income. It is technically a bonus towards petty cash and income, which means it is taxable.

The lenders will then give form 1099 C to the borrower, so they can report it on their taxes during the year.

Contains large mortgages

If a bank agrees to a short sale on your house or a reduction in principle, that has to be reported on a 1099 C for tax purposes, though occasionally you can get exempt from taxes on it. Home loan forgiveness can be a pretty big chunk of change that you then get taxed on.

In 2007, the government passed a law exempting certain foreclosed-on homeowners from a portion of this debt. The law, the Home loan Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, also extends, according to CBS, to people who took part or are participating in the Home Affordable Refinancing Program or HAMP, who received a principle deduction or other refinancing that would otherwise be topic to the tax.

The Wall Street Journal explained that second mortgages are not incorporated. You can use any primary residence in the program though.

Last year termination

When the fiscal cliff negotiations were happening, it integrated the program. It will still expire in 2014 unless extended though. Homeowners should take advantage of claiming the pardoned mortgage right now if they can to stay away from paying taxes on it. Pardoned homeowners do have three years to pay the taxes, so at least there is there.

Creditcards.com explained that people are getting more debt forgiveness now more than ever. In fact, it is expected that the IRS will get 6.5 million 1099 C forms in 2013. In 2003, there were only about 1 million forms filed for debt forgiveness.



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