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Thursday, 3 October 2013

Tax Time Can Make Debt Forgiveness A Headache

By Cornelius Nunev


Debt forgiveness is an excellent thing. A lender that decides to forgive some part of one's loans is good, but it comes with a caveat. The hitch is that the forgiven debt is handled and taxed as income by the IRS, which will hurt come tax time.

Government just sees way to get more taxes

When a loans lender chooses to forgive debt, it is called debt relief or debt cancellation. People love it when this happens. It generally is pardoned as long as the person pays part of the debt.

With regards 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.

A couple hundred thousand in a home loan

Occasionally, a mortgage that is forgiven is exempt from taxes, but much of the time, it is not. In fact, debt forgiveness can be really annoying with regards to forgiveness of a mortgage. A 1099 C has to be used any time the lender agrees to reduce principle or agrees to a short sale.

Any person in the Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, could stay away from paying taxes on the reduction or refinancing of their home loan, according to a 2007 law called the Home loan Forgiveness Debt Relief Act. It also helped people who were foreclosed on from dealing with additional taxes.

It does not consist of any second-home mortgage loans, though it does include all primary residences, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Will be a headache next year

Homeowners who are dealing with debt forgiveness for home loans may have an easier time if claiming the amount over three years rather than all at once, which is one of the options. If you have not claimed it yet, you need to do so now, so you can get the tax exemption. It will only be available until 2014 now that the fiscal cliff negotiations have been finalized, according to CBS. It was going to expire last year, but now it is continued.

Creditcards.com explained that people are getting more debt forgiveness now more than ever. In fact, it is anticipated that the Internal Revenue Service 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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