Get Form 982

A taxpayer is insolvent when his or her total liabilities exceed his or her total assets. The forgiven debt may be excluded as income under the "insolvency" exclusion. Normally, a taxpayer is not required to include forgiven debts in income to the extent that the taxpayer is insolvent.

Can I Avoid Paying Taxes on a Debt Settlement? If you save less than $600 on a debt settlement, you won't have to pay taxes on it. If you're negotiating with a creditor and your savings are around the $600 mark, ask them to cancel $599 in debt.

If you received Form 1099-C Cancellation of Debt and are eligible to exclude a canceled debt from your income because of any of the following, file Form 982 Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness (and Section 1082 Basis Adjustment) with your return.

Purpose of Form However, under certain circumstances described in section 108, you can exclude the amount of discharged indebtedness from your gross income. You must file Form 982 to report the exclusion and the reduction of certain tax attributes either dollar for dollar or 331/3 cents per dollar (as explained later).

You are considered insolvent by the IRS if you owe more than the value of your assets. If you receive a Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt from a credit card company or other lender who canceled or forgave your debt with them, you will need to report the amount they canceled on your tax return.

If you received Form 1099-C Cancellation of Debt and are eligible to exclude a canceled debt from your income because of any of the following, file Form 982 Reduction of Tax Attributes Due to Discharge of Indebtedness (and Section 1082 Basis Adjustment) with your return.

A taxpayer is insolvent when his or her total liabilities exceed his or her total assets. The forgiven debt may be excluded as income under the "insolvency" exclusion.

Form 982 is used to determine, under certain circumstances described in section 108, the amount of discharged indebtedness that can be excluded from gross income.

File IRS form 982 with your 1040 income tax form. The form is located at the IRS' website here: https://.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f982.pdf. Simply list the dollar amount shown on the 1099c and indicate 1. (b) on the 982 form that you are insolvent.