https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc431

Then your bankruptcy is just a ok.

I have heard that if you get a rebate say on car purchase that is also considered taxable income

I would encourage you to contact the IRS taxpayer's advocate if you want more details or need some interest or penalty relief (perhaps you never received a 1099-C): https://www.irs.gov/taxpayer-advocate

'If you borrow money and are legally obligated to repay a fixed or determinable amount at a future date, you have a debt. You may be personally liable for a debt or may own a property that's subject to a debt.'>>>

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc431

6 exceptions to paying tax on forgiven debt
https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/six-exceptions-paying-tax-forgiven-debt-1282.php

and, so you need to add it to your gross income (I believe). It sucks. You can thank Uncle Joe Biden for that one.

'You can thank Uncle Joe Biden for that one?'

The IRS did the math for me, and I owe them $640-something.

I am glad I'm in a position to pay it, and the debt management help I received is largely responsible for that.

But all their mail is addressed to the settlement company. It's their bad if they didn't inform me, and I take responsibility for not being aware enough to check with them.

It isn't your fault for not knowing it. All things being equal, you should have been properly notified.

This is just another reason why the powers that be didn't want Elizabeth Warren or Richard Cordray in charge of the CFPB.

There are some exceptions though. Search for debt cancellation exceptions. IRS probably has a publication.

rate, whatever that may be.

The $5000 mentioned is the "income"

I'm going to check with the settlement company in case they have advice, but I figured that it would somehow be considered income that I'm responsible for. I just didn't want to spend time pursuing it needlessly if there was no point. I thank you all for knowing this and saving me a dig through the giant book of tax instructions to research it.

I understand this was my responsibility, but unfortunately, I didn't receive any kind of notice about it from Citibank or the Settlement company - SC instruction has always been "don't talk to your creditors, let us handle it fully." Likely SCs minor glitch for not notifying me; the IRS letter is the first I've even heard that I owed this. I'll pay it happily for the help and debt forgiveness I've received.

Thanks!

From everything I've read and heard, the vast majority of them do little except collect fees for as long as possible. I'm very glad to hear there is one that actually helps. I have a friend that really could use some hope and help with loan consolidation. Thanks and good luck

http://www.mykeycredit.com/

They're very small, and have been very approachable. They contacted me initially, and while I usually shun telemarketing, I followed up and they were very informative and nice on the phone, and have always been responsive to email questions, and had good answers to my questions like "How do you make money from this/what's in it for you?" (They charge me a monthly maintenance fee that is figured into the monthly payment I make to them in lieu of paying the creditors, and I am paying down a calculated full settlement fee less than the full amount - if they manage to negotiate lower than we planned for, that's bonus for them. My money goes into a savings account that is in my name and I can take control of at any time that they let build up and use to pay off settlements they negotiate. They're managing all the nuisance calls and letters from creditors from collections - they actually want the debt to be sold to collections because they can negotiate a better rate with them then they can with the actual creditors.)

I know it's possible to do debt consolidation/management/settlement on your own, but I would never have been able to put all the pieces together at once coherently without losing my mind.