How to Fill Out a Consumer Debtor Financial Statement

A consumer debtor financial statement is the sworn disclosure of your income, expenses, assets, and debts that you file either with the bankruptcy court (as a packet of schedules and the Statement of Financial Affairs) or with the IRS (as Form 433-A). To fill one out correctly, you gather every supporting document first, decide which form set applies to your situation, then enter numbers that match those documents line for line. Everything you sign is submitted under penalty of perjury, so the standard isn’t “close enough” — it’s consistency with your bank statements, pay stubs, and tax returns.

Figure Out Which Form Set You Need

Two very different processes use the phrase “consumer debtor financial statement,” and confusing them wastes weeks. If the IRS is collecting a federal tax debt, you’ll complete Form 433-A, the Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals, which the IRS uses to decide whether you qualify for an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or hardship status.¹

If you’re filing bankruptcy, you’ll complete a much larger court packet: Schedules A/B through J, plus the Statement of Financial Affairs (Official Form 107), plus the means test form (Official Form 122A-1) if you’re using Chapter 7. The forms, the filing office, and the legal consequences differ. Pick the right track before you start writing anything down.

Pull Your Records Before You Open the Forms

Every discrepancy between a form and a supporting document is a problem waiting to surface at your meeting of creditors or in an IRS review. Collect the records first so the numbers you enter are the numbers your paperwork proves.²

Pay stubs or other payment evidence covering the 60 days before you file.
Your most recent federal tax return (the trustee requires it at least seven days before the 341 meeting), plus the prior two years, because the Statement of Financial Affairs asks about income for the current year and the two calendar years before that.
Current statements for every checking, savings, brokerage, and retirement account, including the statements covering your filing date.
Documentation of non-wage income: Social Security, pensions, child support, alimony, rental income, unemployment.
Mortgage statements, property tax assessments, and any recent appraisals.
Vehicle year, make, model, mileage, loan balance, and estimated value.
Monthly bills: rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance premiums, out-of-pocket medical, child care, transportation.
Most recent statements for every credit card, student loan, personal loan, medical bill, and judgment.
Life insurance policies with any cash surrender value.
Records of any business ownership interest and the income it generates.
Records of 529 plans, ABLE accounts, or education IRAs, which must be filed with the court.²

If your rent on your bank statements is $1,400, your form says $1,400. Not $1,450 because you rounded. Trustees notice.

Filling Out the Bankruptcy Schedules

The schedules are a standardized set, and you address every one. If a category doesn’t apply, enter zero rather than leaving it blank — a zero shows the court you considered the item.³

Schedule A/B – Property. Everything you own or have an interest in: real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, household goods, clothing, jewelry, digital assets.
Schedule C – Exemptions. The property you’re claiming as legally protected from creditors, with the specific statute cited.
Schedule D – Secured Creditors. Debts backed by collateral, such as a mortgage or car loan.
Schedule E/F – Unsecured Creditors. Credit cards, medical bills, personal loans, and similar debts with no collateral.
Schedule G – Contracts and Leases. Any ongoing contracts or unexpired leases, like an apartment lease or equipment agreement.
Schedule H – Codebtors. Anyone else who shares responsibility for your debts.
Schedule I – Income. Your current monthly income from all sources.
Schedule J – Expenses. Your current monthly expenses for yourself and your dependents.

Claiming Exemptions on Schedule C

Schedule C is where you protect what you keep. Many states require you to use the state exemption schedule rather than the federal one, and homestead amounts in particular vary dramatically — some states cap it at a few thousand dollars, others have no cap at all. Federal exemption amounts, adjusted effective April 1, 2025, include $31,575 in homestead equity, $5,025 in motor vehicle equity, household goods up to $800 per item with a $16,850 total cap, $2,125 in jewelry, a $1,675 wildcard plus up to $15,800 of unused homestead applied to any property, and up to $1,711,975 in IRA and Roth IRA funds.⁴

Calculate equity by subtracting the loan balance from the current market value. A car worth $12,000 with an $8,000 loan has $4,000 in equity, well within the federal vehicle exemption. This is where people most often leave money on the table by misstating value or forgetting to apply the wildcard.

Filling Out the Statement of Financial Affairs

The Statement of Financial Affairs (Official Form 107) looks backward at your financial activity rather than at your current snapshot. The court needs to know whether you moved money or property in ways that favored one creditor or put assets out of reach.⁵

If your debts are primarily consumer debts, disclose any payments totaling $600 or more to a single creditor during the 90 days before filing. For non-consumer debts the threshold is $7,575. Payments to insiders — relatives, business partners, or anyone with a close personal or financial relationship — carry a one-year look-back.⁶ The trustee can “avoid” transfers that meet the definition of a preference, pulling the money back into the bankruptcy estate.

Property you sold, traded, or otherwise transferred within two years before filing must be disclosed, along with any property placed in a self-settled trust within the prior ten years.⁵ Paying back a family member right before filing is one of the most common mistakes. It doesn’t protect the money. The trustee unwinds the payment and adds scrutiny to the rest of your case.

Form 107 also asks about income for the current year and the two prior calendar years, lawsuits, repossessions, gifts over $600, and charitable contributions. Pull the answers from your tax returns and bank records; don’t estimate.

Filling Out Schedules I and J

Schedules I and J determine your monthly disposable income — the gap, if any, between what you earn and what you reasonably spend. That number drives many of the decisions in your case.⁷

For Schedule I, calculate gross monthly income from every source and subtract mandatory payroll deductions (income taxes, Social Security, Medicare). If you’re paid weekly, multiply gross wages by 4.3; biweekly by 2.17. Include a spouse’s income even if the spouse isn’t filing with you. You’re also required to disclose any anticipated changes to income or expenses over the next 12 months.²

Schedule J covers every recurring monthly expense: housing, utilities, food, clothing, transportation, health insurance, out-of-pocket medical, child care, and court-ordered payments like child support or alimony.⁸ Every number should match your actual bank statements and bills. A positive disposable income figure often indicates you can repay at least a portion of your debt over time, which may push you toward Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7.

Filling Out the Means Test (Chapter 7)

If you’re filing Chapter 7, Official Form 122A-1 calculates your “current monthly income” by averaging all income you received during the six full calendar months before filing.⁹ Annualize that average and compare it to the median household income for a family of your size in your state. Under the median, you pass and can proceed with Chapter 7.

Over the median, you move to Form 122A-2, which subtracts allowable expenses to determine whether a “presumption of abuse” applies. The court presumes abuse if your monthly disposable income, multiplied by 60, equals or exceeds the lesser of 25% of your unsecured debts (with a floor of $10,275) or $17,150.¹⁰ If the presumption applies, your Chapter 7 case can be dismissed or converted to Chapter 13 unless you demonstrate special circumstances. People whose debts are primarily business-related, and those with qualifying military service, may be exempt from the means test entirely.⁹

Filling Out IRS Form 433-A

If your financial statement is for a tax debt rather than a bankruptcy, Form 433-A asks a narrower question: can you pay, and if so, how much?¹ The form covers personal information, employment, bank accounts, investments (including digital assets like cryptocurrency), real property, vehicles, life insurance cash values, and a full monthly income and expense breakdown.

The critical difference from a bankruptcy schedule: the IRS evaluates your expenses against its own Collection Financial Standards, not what you actually spend. National standards for food, clothing, and miscellaneous items are set amounts based on household size, and you get the full allowance regardless of actual spending.¹¹ Housing, utilities, and transportation fall under local standards that vary by county and region, and you’re allowed the lesser of what you actually spend or the local standard amount.¹²

If income minus allowable expenses leaves nothing, the IRS may classify your account as “currently not collectible” and pause enforcement. If there’s money left over, that number becomes the basis for a monthly installment agreement. For an offer in compromise, you’d use Form 433-A (OIC), which follows a similar structure with different calculation rules.¹³ One trap: the IRS Collection Financial Standards are not the same as the expense figures used in bankruptcy. The bankruptcy numbers come from the U.S. Trustee Program. Don’t mix them.

What You’re Signing — and the Cost of Getting It Wrong

Every bankruptcy form is signed under penalty of perjury. The forms themselves warn that false statements, concealed property, or fraud in connection with a bankruptcy case can bring fines up to $250,000, up to 20 years in prison, or both.⁵ Concealing assets or making false oaths specifically in a bankruptcy case carries up to five years in prison under 18 U.S.C. § 152.¹⁴ The $250,000 maximum fine comes from the general federal felony fine statute.¹⁵

False information on Form 433-A falls under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which covers knowingly false statements to any branch of the federal government, with the same ceiling: up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.¹⁶ Beyond prosecution, false information can get your bankruptcy case dismissed, your discharge denied, or a previously granted discharge revoked.

Trustees and IRS agents cross-reference what you report against tax transcripts, bank records, and property registries. Underreporting income, hiding an account, or “forgetting” an asset isn’t a strategy. Keep copies of every form, every signature page, and every supporting document. If a question comes up six months later — and questions do come up — those copies are your proof that the numbers you entered were the numbers your records supported.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 433-A – Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 521 – Debtor’s Duties
3
United States Courts. Bankruptcy Forms
4
Federal Register. Adjustment of Certain Dollar Amounts Applicable to Bankruptcy Cases
5
United States Courts. Statement of Financial Affairs for Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 547 – Preferences
7
United States Courts. Schedule I – Your Income (Individuals)
8
United States Courts. Schedule J – Your Expenses (Individuals)
9
United States Courts. Chapter 7 Statement of Your Current Monthly Income
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 707 – Dismissal of a Case or Conversion to a Case Under Chapter 11 or 13
11
Internal Revenue Service. Collection Financial Standards
12
Internal Revenue Service. Local Standards Housing and Utilities
13
Internal Revenue Service. Form 433-A (OIC) – Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 152 – Concealment of Assets, False Oaths and Claims
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3571 – Sentence of Fine
16
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally