Bankruptcy and taxes
I went bankrupt 2 years ago. It was never discharged. I haven’t done my taxes for the last 2 years either. I want to get things cleared up, but I don’t know what to do or where to start. Can I still do my taxes? Is there other information I need other that T4 slips when you filed for bankruptcy?
To get things dealt with you are best to contact your original trustee. There will be a cost to get him reappointed and you will have to complete all of your outstanding duties, attend at court and comply for whatever the court will require, but it will be manageable. One of the things the trustee will require is for you get these outstanding taxes completed. As for whether or not you only need T4’s, this is dependent on what type of income you have and whether or not you qualify for any special deductions, but your trustee should be able to help you determine what slips you will require.
Yes, you may still do your taxes – in fact, by law you are required to.
The year you file bankruptcy will have two tax returns: one called the PRE return runs from January 1st until the date of your bankruptcy; the second is called the POST and runs from the day after your bankruptcy until Dec 31. All of your returns for the years that follow may be filed normally.
If you haven’t been discharged, there is a pretty good chance that all of your government mailings (like tax returns and refund cheques) will be sent straight to your trustee.
You may want to do yourself a favour and call your trustee to see what need to be done in order to complete your bankruptcy. If you look back over some of the entries in this blog you will find tales of woe and hardship from people that didn’t complete their bankruptcy and simply let it slide, only to find out later that the longer you leave it undone, the harder it will be to finish.