#debt-management
Debt management strategies and payoff planning
The IRS generally has ten years from assessment — not filing — to collect. Offers, payment-plan requests, CDP hearings and bankruptcy all pause that clock; here is how to reconstruct your real CSED from transcripts.
Chapter 7 can erase income taxes when the return was due over 3 years ago, filed over 2 years ago, and assessed over 240 days ago, with no fraud or evasion — but trust fund taxes, unfiled returns, and recorded tax liens survive every discharge.
SBA loans typically enter default after three to four missed payments; past 60 days past due with long-term problems, servicing rules push lenders toward liquidation over deferment. The sequence runs lender collateral seizure and personal-guarantee enforcement, SBA guarantee purchase with a 60-day demand letter, a lump-sum offer in compromise on Forms 1150 and 770 after collateral is liquidated, and finally Treasury Offset Program collection via tax refund offset and administrative wage garnishment.
The ARPA exclusion for student loan discharges expired on December 31, 2025, so income-driven repayment forgiveness after 20 or 25 years, closed-school and borrower-defense discharges are federal taxable income again from 2026, while PSLF, teacher-service and death or disability discharges remain tax-free. A $49,000 IDR discharge can add roughly $5,800 to $10,000 in federal tax; the Form 982 insolvency exclusion, early AGI planning and your own payment ledger are the tools that shrink the bill.
The Treasury Offset Program lets the Bureau of the Fiscal Service withhold a federal tax refund to pay past-due child support, defaulted federal student and SBA loans, state income tax, and unemployment debts, in that priority order. Creditor agencies must mail a Notice of Intent to Offset at least 60 days before referral, giving you time to pay, sign a repayment agreement, or dispute the debt. When the debt belongs only to your spouse, Form 8379 Injured Spouse Allocation recovers your share of a joint refund in roughly 8 to 14 weeks.
Indiana's Tax Amnesty 2026 runs July 15 through September 9, 2026 and waives all penalties, interest, and collection fees on DOR-administered taxes for periods ending before January 1, 2024, provided you pay in full or open a payment plan that is paid off by June 7, 2027. This guide covers the eligibility checklist (including the 2005/2015 prior-participant bar), the four-step INTIME process, five mistakes that void the waiver, and how to record the forgiven amounts in your books.
The interest coverage ratio (EBIT ÷ interest expense) is the loan covenant small businesses trip most often, with minimums typically set between 2.5x and 4.5x and tested quarterly on trailing twelve months. This guide explains how lenders define EBITDA and interest expense, what a breach triggers (default rate, frozen draws, cross-defaults), and the cure sequence in cost order — early covenant reset, waiver, amendment, equity cure, forbearance — plus the bookkeeping that keeps your ratio visible before the bank sees it.
Inland Revenue can report significant unpaid business tax to a credit reporting agency — GST, PAYE, or income-tax debt over NZ$150,000 that is 90+ days overdue, or debt unpaid for more than 12 months equal to at least 30% of assessable income. Here is how the 30-day Notice of Intent works from 1 April 2026, and the myIR review and reconciliation controls that keep a balance off your credit file.
Carnival's FY2026 Q2 revenue rose 5.3% to $6.66B while operating income fell 8.9% — fuel cost per metric ton jumped 29% to $793 and net income slipped to $539M. Customer deposits reached $9.0B, cash-backed proof of booked demand that is still a refundable liability sitting against $23.4B of long-term debt. Every figure traced line by line in a public Beancount ledger covering FY2021 through Q2 FY2026.
The CFPB's national medical-debt reporting ban was vacated in July 2025, but three-bureau reforms still remove paid collections, unpaid debt under $500, and debt less than a year old, and at least 15 states keep their own limits in place.
A potential 2026 Fed hike would lift prime and SOFR within days, raising payments on variable-rate lines, cards, and SBA 7(a) loans. Learn which loans reprice first, how to stress-test at +50 bps, and what to lock before the next FOMC meeting.
Business bankruptcies hit 24,737 filings in the year through December 2025 and Subchapter V cases jumped about 67% year-over-year in January 2026. This guide explains why filings are rising, how Subchapter V differs from traditional Chapter 11, what the $7.5 million versus $3 million debt limit fight means for eligibility, and the five-number dashboard that surfaces trouble months before a filing.
