In Re Koch

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

JAMES A. PUSATERI, Bankruptcy Judge.

In each of the two cases at issue the trustee claims an income tax refund due and owing the debtor for the tax year 1980 as an estate asset pursuant to 11 U.S.C. § 541. Each debtor, having received an order for relief before the end of the tax year 1980, objects to the trustee’s claim to the refund. Each debtor claims that the refund is not property of the estate as that is defined by 11 U.S.C. § 541. In the alternative, the debtors claim that if a refund is property of the estate it may be exempted to a debtor as wages pursuant to…