Many people often wonder if it is a requirement to have filed taxes to be able to file for bankruptcy.  The answer to that question depends on a couple of different things, including whether or not you are required to file taxes by law, and what type of bankruptcy you are filing.  There are various reasons why people are not required to file income, including not making enough employment income throughout the year or even being unemployed for an extended amount of time.  If you are not required by law to file taxes, then it will not be an issue that would effect you filing for bankruptcy.  If, however, you are required to file taxes due to your income level and you have failed to do so, it could become an issue depending on what chapter of bankruptcy you are going to be filing.

If you are planning on filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee requires copies of your most recently filed tax returns.   This means that if you are filing for bankruptcy in 2012, the trustee will want copies of your 2011 Federal and State income tax returns.  If you received an extension to file from the IRS, or did not file in the most recent year at the time of filing your bankruptcy case, you will need to provide copies of your tax returns from the most recent year you filed taxes.  Depending on when you file for bankruptcy and how close that is to when you would file taxes for the following year (in this case, 2012 taxes), the trustee may decide to keep your case open until he or she receives a copy of those tax returns. In this case, you would be required to file taxes.  From those returns, the trustee determines if any portion of the refund is owed to the bankruptcy estate.  Failure to provide the tax returns can result in you losing your discharge, so it is important to comply with requests if the trustee makes them.

If you are planning on filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee will require a copy of your most recently filed tax returns, just as they would for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  However, Chapter 13 bankruptcies differ from Chapter 7 bankruptcies in that there is a requirement for debtors to have filed taxes for the past four years leading up to the  year of filing.  This, of course, only applies to individuals who are required to file taxes.  If you do not file your taxes for those years, the trustee and the Missouri Department of Revenue can mile motions and/or objections in your case until you comply with the requirements.  If you continue to not comply, your case can be dismissed.