The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act and Debt Cancellation

There are many people wondering, if they owe a debt to someone and that person cancels or forgives the debt, is the canceled amount taxable as income next year? The answer is: it depends on the type of debt canceled. Generally, if a debt for which you are personally liable is forgiven or canceled, other than a gift, you must include the amount in your income. However, there are exceptions.

According to the IRS, the most common situations when cancellation of debt income is not taxable involve:

• Qualified principal residence indebtedness: This is the exception created by the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 and applies to most homeowners.
• Bankruptcy: Debts discharged through bankruptcy are not considered taxable income.
• Insolvency: If you are insolvent when the debt is canceled, some or all of the canceled debt may not be taxable to you. You are insolvent when your total debts are more than the fair market value of your total assets.
• Certain farm debts: If you incurred the debt directly in operation of a farm, more than half your income from the prior three years was from farming, and the loan was owed to a person or agency regularly engaged in lending, your canceled debt is generally not considered taxable income.
• Non-recourse loans: A non-recourse loan is a loan for which the lender’s only remedy in case of default is to repossess the property being financed or used as collateral. That is, the lender cannot pursue you personally in case of default. Forgiveness of a non-recourse loan resulting from a foreclosure does not result in cancellation of debt income. However, it may result in other tax consequences.

Due to the current housing market, I am sure the exclusion of qualified principal residence debt forgiveness from taxable income is a sigh of relief for many. The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 generally will allow taxpayers to exclude this discharge of debt on their principal residence. Mortgage debt through foreclosure or debt reduced through restructuring will not be taxable for the calendar years 2007 through 2012. The maximum amount of qualified primary residence debt is $2million ($1 million if married filing separately).

For more information regarding debt forgiveness you may want to visit the IRS’s website or talk to a qualified tax professional.

The Hidden Problems with Forgiven Credit Card Debt

Let’s be honest, the economy is a nightmare. No one’s job is safe, people are losing their homes, and relying on their credit cards to make ends meet. Credit card companies are feeling the pinch too, and are responding by settling delinquent accounts for a fraction of what is owed.

Why would they do this? Simple: collection activities cost credit card company’s money. They have to pay the person calling you to nag about payments, they have to pay for all the letters and notices. And they may never recover all the money you owe. So, when a customer offers a lump sum payment to settle the entire debt, many companies are jumping at the chance. Moreover, whatever balance is not covered by the lump sum, the credit card company just forgives. Which is great for consumers… in the short-term.

Aside from the damage to your credit (though the delinquent payments certainly are not any better), there is a problem laying in wait for you next tax season. If your credit card company forgave your debt, the IRS calls that taxable income, reported to the IRS on a 1099-C. Oh yes, if you settle your $25,000 Visa bill for only $5,000, the “forgiven” twenty grand is now considered income. So, if you are taxed at 15%, your tax bill will increase by $3,000. The increased “income” can even bump you up into a higher tax bracket!

(It is important to note that if your debt is mortgage-related and is forgiven, this may NOT qualify as taxable income, thanks to the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007.)

You get your credit card debt handled, only to find a brand new tax debt waiting for you. What a trade off, eh? Of course there are some ways to get around this. A title 11 bankruptcy can relieve you of the tax debt. Or you can claim insolvency (i.e. your total debts are higher than the fair market value of your assets). Neither option sounds very appealing.

One would hope that the government would see this problem as a major issue, given the large numbers of people currently dealing with overwhelming credit card debts. However, to date, no legislation on par with the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act of 2007 has been introduced. And with the inherent inefficiency of Congress, any new legislation would likely be too late to help the millions of struggling Americans with debt today.