by Jessica Hughey

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: November 15, 2009

In the past, Chapter 7 bankruptcy has been called a "clean slate" for debtors, thought to be a way to eliminate all debts owed by the debtor. However, some debts are considered "non-dischargeable" by the bankruptcy courts. Therefore, even though you may have received a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge for most of your debts, you may still owe some of them, following the discharge. In addition, the bankruptcy code was completely overhauled in 2005 and some of the rules regarding dischargeable debt have changed, especially in regard to student loans. Some categories of debt which are considered non-dischargeable in bankruptcy include:

Income Taxes

Past due income taxes are, generally, not dischargeable debts in bankruptcy. However, the bankruptcy code allows for the discharge of taxes which became due more than three years before the filing of the bankruptcy petition. Caution: If you file your return in December, your taxes are not considered due until April 15th of the following year. Therefore, the three year clock does not start ticking when you file, only when the taxes became due. You also cannot discharge tax debts owed if you did not file a return for those taxes or if you made an intentional attempt to avoid them, no matter how old they are.

Other Government Debts

These can include such debts as property taxes, excise taxes and employee payroll taxes.

Student Loans

This is one of those areas of bankruptcy law that changed with the overhaul of the bankruptcy code. Under the old bankruptcy code, only student loans made by non-profit organizations were considered non-dischargeable. Now, this rule applies to almost any debt incurred by the debtor to pay for higher education, including student loans owed directly to a college or university. However, in the case of loans obtained directly from these institutions, the school cannot withhold your transcript, once you've filed for bankruptcy, even if the debt is eventually deemed non-dischargeable by the bankruptcy court.

Any debt not listed on the debtor's schedule of creditors

This one is a no-brainer. If you don't list the debt on your bankruptcy petition, obviously it won't be included in your discharge. Under the bankruptcy code, all of your creditors are notified of your bankruptcy and given the opportunity to object to a discharge at a proceeding called a 341 hearing or "meeting of creditors". If you don't list them on the petition, you're basically depriving these creditors from exercising this right.

Generally,

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