Legal Question in Tax Law in Maryland

Re: Tax Leins

There are a number of things to check, first if your wife did not file bankruptcy, were the taxes hers also? The house also? You need to check if the taxes were in any part discharged with the bankruptcy attorney or court. Finally you can do a compromise. Information on this is at http://business.marylandtaxes.com/paymentinfo/nonpayment/procedures.asp. You may want a National Expert in this area to assist you.

Joel Selik

800-894-2889

www.taxworkout.com

Re: Tax Leins

This is complicated, and there are at least four points that need to be made.

1. The discharge of a tax in bankruptcy does not eliminate a pre-petition lien on property. See my article on discharging taxes in bankruptcy at www.bjhaynes.com. Maryland, however, as a matter of policy, typically does remove liens once the underlying tax is discharged.

2. If your wife was liable on the tax debts which you discharged, the State would still be able to collect against her. And since the tax would remain collectible, they may choose to keep the liens in place.

3. If the house was owned jointly (tenants by the entireties) and only you owed the tax, Maryland�s lien would never have validly attached to the house anyway. See my article on the Craft decision on the website. And if this is the case, we could probably convince the State to release the liens.

4. Even if the liens validly attached and remain viable despite the discharge, Maryland does have an offer in compromise program under which we could negotiate a settlement based on your ability to pay.

If you so desire, we would be glad to help you with this.

Re: Tax Leins

In a few years you could file bankrupcy again but this is not well advised. Each of the liens could be different and you should strive to resolve them quickly so as to regain your credit history. If your wife has not declared bankrupcy and the debt is in her name, leverage is acquired to potentially negotiate debt down. Contact me if you would like my assistance.