Your cousin lost her job because of the pandemic and used her credit card up to her $20,000 limit in order to pay bills. But she hasn’t found another job, so had to call the credit card company and explain that she had zero money with which to pay her bill, had zero assets that could be sold for cash, and had a pile of other debts besides. The credit card company did its due diligence, concluded that yes your cousin was a lost cause, then wrote off the entire $20,000 as uncollectible. Code § 61(a) includes “discharge of indebtedness” as an example of “gross in-come.” So your cousin will be taxable on that $20,000, right? Wrong? Why?
Your cousin lost her job because of the pandemic and used her credit card up to her $20,000 limit in order to pay bills. But she hasn’t found another job, so had to call the credit card company and explain that she had zero money with which to pay her bill, had zero assets that could be sold for cash, and had a pile of other debts besides. The credit card company did its due diligence, concluded that yes your cousin was a lost cause, then wrote off the entire $20,000 as uncollectible. Code § 61(a) includes “discharge of indebtedness” as an example of “gross in-come.” So your cousin will be taxable on that $20,000, right? Wrong? Why?
Chapter5: Gross Income: Exclusions
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 27P
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Your cousin lost her job because of the pandemic and used her credit card up to her $20,000 limit in order to pay bills. But she hasn’t found another job, so had to call the credit card company and explain that she had zero money with which to pay her bill, had zero assets that could be sold for cash, and had a pile of other debts besides. The credit card company did its due diligence, concluded that yes your cousin was a lost cause, then wrote off the entire $20,000 as uncollectible.
Code § 61(a) includes “discharge of indebtedness” as an example of “gross in-come.” So your cousin will be taxable on that $20,000, right? Wrong? Why?
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