The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

Ah, tax season: the oft-dreaded time when we’re all forced to assess a previous year’s worth of financial doings, pay back deficiencies and seek deductions. But this year’s tax season may become a bit more taxing for some as industry watchdogs are finding that the Internal Revenue Service is further targeting struggling taxpayers with aggressive tactics meant to retrieve all that is owed from already economy-ravaged Americans.

As the Associated Press reported this month, “the Internal Revenue Service is tormenting struggling taxpayers in the midst of a slumping economy by increasing the number of liens the agency has filed against people who owe back taxes.…

As we’re all now aware, this decade’s economic downturn has dealt, and unfortunately continues to deal, a significant blow to the budgets of many American families, leaving millions in debt, facing foreclosure, and sometimes looking to any means necessary to break even, much less get back on a financially-healthy course. And so, once again, we’re finding that the beginnings of tax season can also yield it’s own set of challenges for some cash-strapped citizens as many turn to plastic to pay back what they owe the IRS.

Unfortunately, with the advent of online filings, paying your taxes with a credit card has never been simpler.…

As you know by now, this country’s recent Great Recession has dealt, and continues to deal, a significant blow to the budgets of many American families, leaving millions in debt, underwater in their mortgages, perpetually jobless and looking for any means necessary to get back on a financially-healthy track.

However, there may be a silver fiscal lining to this year’s spring season: The Recovery Act’s tax credits. Now we’re seeing that tax time—normally considered a harrowing economic experience for many Americans—is yielding it a bit of a reprieve for some cash-strapped citizens struggling to stay afloat amid rising education costs, mortgages, and even car payments.…

If you couldn’t tell by the utter onslaught of tax preparation service ads and the sudden presence of temporary cubicles in that once abandoned retail space at the corner of your favorite strip mall, let us be the first to remind you that it’s tax season.

We take interest in this time of year because tax returns can mean one of two things to our readers: more debt or more money. Since we are all about helping you figure out what to do with your debt, we hope this post will educate you regarding what tax season can mean for your financial well-being.

There are number of tax deductions out there that get ignored by a lot of families.…

It’s tax season. Which means that for most people, it’s time to realize just how much we give to Uncle Sam every year. For some, the prospect of a refund provides a glimmer of hope that some new money is coming in soon to pay off debts.

Just a quick little note on your tax dollars before we get into the meat of this post: it is actually better to owe just a little bit of money after filing because that means that you have used more of our your own money throughout the year instead of giving it all to the government.…

Most people understand that wage garnishment is basically what happens when a court order requires your employer to withdraw a portion of your paycheck for the repayment of a debt. If you are already up to your ears in debt and barely able to make ends meet each month, one wage garnishment, be it by the IRS or another entity, can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Although any kind of debt can eventually result in garnishment of wages, the most common types include back child support, unpaid court fines or judgments, defaulted student loans, and the biggie: delinquent taxes owed to the IRS or any state government.…