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From the Chair: Kiawah In the Rear View — and On the Horizon

By Keith Wood

It was great seeing many of you over Memorial Day weekend at the North Carolina/South Carolina/Georgia Tax Update program in Kiawah. A special thanks to Isaac Bradley for all the hard work in putting that program together.

As some of you may already know, we have reserved the East Beach Conference Center for next year’s Annual Meeting in Kiawah again over Memorial Day weekend. We hope you will start making plans to join us in Kiawah that weekend. For those of you already planning to attend, we would ask that you encourage other co-workers and colleagues to make plans to attend as well.

Also, Kevin May of Graves May in Wilmington has agreed to chair this CLE Committee. I know he would appreciate suggestions for speakers or topics.

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Discharging Individual Income Taxes In Bankruptcy: Five Easy Pieces

By Heather Culp

A well-timed bankruptcy can be a powerful arrow in the quiver of a taxpayer with burdensome tax debt. Many lawyers and tax professionals are not aware a taxpayer’s personal liability for individual income tax debt can be discharged in bankruptcy, if the answer to each of the following five questions is YES:

  1. Have more than three years passed since the tax return giving rise to the tax liability was due, including applicable extensions? 11 U.S.C. §507(a)(8). Individual income taxes for the period ending 12/31/13 are thus the most recent taxes that could be discharged, as of May 2017 (but not until October 2017 if the taxpayer obtained an extension of time in which to file the return). Certain taxpayer actions can toll and thus extend this three-year period. For example, a prior bankruptcy tolls this three-year period for the length of the automatic stay plus 90 days; a request for a collection due process hearing (“a CDP request”) tolls the three-year period for the time the hearing is pending during the three-year period, plus 90 days. See language immediately following 11 U.S.C. §507(a)(8)(G).

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The Chair’s Comments: Kiawah is Calling

Tax Section

By Joshua D. Bryant

Fellow Tax Section Members:

It is hard to believe only three months remain in my term as chair of the Tax Section. It has been a rewarding experience, and I look forward to continuing to serve our section over the remainder of the 2016-2017 bar year.

The past few months have been busy for the section. In November, we held our second Tax Section Council meeting of the year at the Elon School of Law in Greensboro.  In conjunction with that meeting, we held our annual meeting with IRS representatives jointly with members of the Tax Committee of the North Carolina Association of Certified Public Accountants (NCACPA).  The meeting gave attendees an opportunity to learn about IRS Field Collections initiatives aimed at increasing employment tax compliance and current areas of focus of Taxpayer Advocate Services.

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