My wife hasn't worked in 2 years while raising our baby. She hadn't paid a credit card. The card wants to garnish her taxes, but she has no income. SO if I were to file married, do they garnish that because her name is with mine?? Or would it be better to file seperately? Thank you for any help!!
2007-01-21 08:24:23 · 6 answers · asked by hetherington1978 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
My wife hasn't worked in 2 years while raising our baby. She hadn't paid a credit card. The card wants to garnish her taxes, but she has no income. SO if I were to file married, do they garnish that because her name is with mine?? Or would it be better to file seperately? Thank you for any help!!
The card account was sold to a collection agency, they are the ones trying to garnish the taxes. not the card, the credit collectors.
2007-01-21 08:43:53 · update #1
Been there, done that. NO, CREDIT CARD COMPANIES CANNOT AND WILL NOT GARNISH YOUR TAXES. THATS A SCARE TACTIC. NO WORRIES. Just file jointly, they cannot touch it.
2007-01-28 12:57:40 · answer #1 · answered by Jennifer G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No credit card company has any right to garnish a tax refund. They are trying to scare you. You could, of your own free will, pay the card down from any refund you receive, but they cannot insist that you do this.
Pay something on a regular basis. It's worth it.
Edit: The collectors would like you to think that they can garnish your tax refund. They cannot. Only federal and state debts can be taken from your refund - child support and student loans being the most common. On the basis that there is no legal ground to take your refund without your consent, go ahead and file jointly.
2007-01-21 16:35:00 · answer #2 · answered by skip 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you live in a community property state, you are jointly liable for any of your spouse's debts (and entitled to joint ownership of any assets.) You may also be liable if you either signed for the credit card or wrote a check for any part of the credit card balance. The best advice is to contact the creditor and try to work out a plan. Often, the creditor will forgive all penalties and interest, if you live up to your part of the bargain. Regardless, tax refunds are very difficult to garnish unless it's for back child support or taxes previously owed.
2007-01-28 17:19:15 · answer #3 · answered by Scott K 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have never heard of garnishing income taxes for a private debt. They usually will only garnish paychecks.
However, if it is possible, they can probably only do that if you were married at the time.
2007-01-21 16:33:57 · answer #4 · answered by Uther Aurelianus 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you file a joint refund, your tax return IS your wife's tax refund. That said, I doubt the credit card can seize your tax refund. Usually that can only be done for child support, government backed loans, or debts owed to the government. If your refund is subject to seizure, you can file a Form 8379, Injured Spouse Claim and Allocation. This shields 'your share' of the refund from seizure without losing the benefits of a joint return.
2007-01-21 18:10:00 · answer #5 · answered by STEVEN F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Credit card companys won't garnish wages. Only things like cars and houses, tax issues, child support.
2007-01-21 16:36:09 · answer #6 · answered by shaydzofluv 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋