In some ways, the proposed law is a social experiment. It requires several agencies to study the law's effects and report them to Congress. Chief among the experiments is a requirement that debtors abide by Internal Revenue Service guidelines that detail what constitutes reasonable spending. Congress wants a report in two years that describes how the guidelines affect debtors and bankruptcy courts. The IRS guidelines describe reasonable expenses for food and clothing , transportation and housing .
Some guidelines are nationwide, and some are applied by region or county.
There is disagreement over what these standards mean. The IRS lumps housing and utility expenses together, but bankruptcy courts prefer to separate them because it matters whether someone is paying a mortgage or renting. Some debtors are making payments on cars, while others own paid-for cars that will have to be replaced soon. No one in Congress has answered these questions. Hiding in the sunshine When people complain about deadbeats who abuse bankruptcy law, they often tell anecdotes about wealthy scofflaws who move to Texas or Florida, buy a big ol' expensive house on a golf course, wait a few months and declare bankruptcy.