Our Mission
To advance awareness and understanding of Section 505 through education, collaboration, and continued legal research—helping bankruptcy and tax attorneys unlock new possibilities for debtors and financial institutions.
Bringing Light to the Overlooked Power of Section 505
The 505 Project is a nonprofit initiative dedicated to uncovering and teaching the practical use of 11 U.S.C. § 505—a little-known section of the bankruptcy code that empowers courts to determine tax liabilities. Our mission is simple: to educate, collaborate, and help legal and financial professionals leverage this overlooked provision to create faster, fairer outcomes for their clients.
Why We Exist
Despite its potential, Section 505 remains underutilized. Many attorneys aren’t aware that bankruptcy courts have the authority to determine tax disputes. The 505 Project was created to change that—to connect experts across fields and to prove through real cases that §505 is a viable, lawful path to tax resolution.
Our Philosophy
We believe that education, collaboration, and experimentation are the keys to uncovering what’s possible. The 505 Project isn’t about opinions—it’s about exploring facts, testing strategy, and sharing what we learn openly.
Who’s Behind Project 505
James M. Gee, CPA, CIRA, CFE
Founder, GEE HASHIMOTO ADVISORY | Former Sr. Auditor/Analyst, U.S. Trustee
Program (Retired) | Expert in Bankruptcy Taxation and Forensic Accounting James M. Gee is an experienced authority in insolvency taxation, forensic accounting, and financial restructuring. With more than three decades of experience spanning both public and government sectors, Mr. Gee brings unmatched expertise to fiduciaries, trustees, and professionals navigating complex insolvency and tax matters.
Mr. Gee began his career with Neilson, Elggren, Durkin & Company and Arthur Andersen LLP, where he built a foundation in federal and state taxation interaction and clashes with Federal Bankruptcy Law. He deepened his specialization in bankruptcy taxation while serving the former FBI agents and CPAs turned into Central District of California Chapter 7 Panel Trustees R. Todd Neilson and Ronald L. Durkin advising them on complex reorganizations and high-profile liquidation.
His early commitment to tax policy led him to Washington, D.C., where he served as a Congressional Tax Fellow on the United States Senate Finance Committee as staff to the Honorable Senator Orrin G. Hatch in 1995, contributing to legislative research and policy development on national tax matters. He holds a Master of Accountancy in Taxation from Brigham Young University (BYU) and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and is currently licensed in Washington State, currently seeking reciprocity in Utah, where he passed the CPA exam in its entirety on his first attempt back in May 2007.
For the past 23 years, Mr. Gee served in the United States Trustee Program, the component of the U.S. Department of Justice overseeing the integrity of the nation’s bankruptcy system. He served first in the Western District of Washington starting in 2002 and then transferred to the District of Utah in 2006. For the past eight years he has overseen the collection efforts and Treasury Offset usage of the Districts of Utah and Wyoming on unpaid and outstanding United States Trustee statutory fees assessed under 28 U.S.C. 1930(a)(6) pursuant to the Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA).
His tenure at the U.S. Trustee as one of its most experienced auditors, included leadership in peer reviews and national policy audits across multiple districts—Brooklyn, Grand Rapids, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Corpus Christi, and an innovative multi-district review of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland in 2024. His work helped refine national standards for fiduciary oversight, professional conduct, and financial reporting in bankruptcy cases.
Mr. Gee retired from federal service on September 30, 2025, and founded GEE HASHIMOTO ADVISORY in Highland, Utah, on October 1, 2025. The firm focuses on restructuring, forensic accounting, tax advisory and compliance services for fiduciaries in bankruptcy, receiverships, and liquidating or litigation trusts—continuing his lifelong focus on Insolvency Taxation. He is also a licensed Insurance Producer in the state of Utah.
He is a member of several professional organizations, including the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees (NABT), the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), the Association of Insolvency and Reorganization Advisors (AIRA), the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA), the American Bar Association (ABA) Tax Section, the National Association of Equity Receivers (NAFER), the Commercial Receivers Association (CRA), and an affiliate member of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA).
James is also a member of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL), where he collaborates with partner banks and stakeholders in SBA 7(a) lending programs and related government-backed loan initiatives. He is an expert in restructuring, contracts, bankruptcy law, taxation, and all matters related to loan liquidations, contract disputes, and workouts and restructuring.
Mr. Gee’s credibility rests not only on decades of technical expertise but also on his proven record of leadership, policy integrity, and excellence in financial accountability—qualities that define his ongoing mission at The 505 Project (as Co-Founder) and GEE HASHIMOTO ADVISORY.
Mr. Gee is an advocate for fairness in our tax system and an advocate for the wise and judicious use of taxpayer dollars in advancing both the bankruptcy and taxation systems of the United States of America, the greatest nation on earth.
Who’s Behind Project 505
James M. Gee, CPA, CIRA, CFE
Founder, GEE HASHIMOTO ADVISORY | Former Sr. Auditor/Analyst, U.S. Trustee
James M. Gee is a nationally recognized expert in insolvency taxation, forensic accounting, and financial restructuring with more than 30 years of experience across public practice and federal service. His career includes work at Arthur Andersen LLP, advising high-profile Chapter 7 trustees, and serving as a Congressional Tax Fellow on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee under Senator Orrin G. Hatch. A CPA with a Master of Accountancy in Taxation from BYU, he spent 23 years in the U.S. Trustee Program, where he became one of its most experienced auditors and helped shape national standards for fiduciary oversight, financial reporting, and bankruptcy policy.
Today, Mr. Gee leads GEE HASHIMOTO ADVISORY, providing restructuring, insolvency tax, and forensic accounting services for fiduciaries, trustees, receivers, and litigation or liquidating trusts. He is also active across major industry organizations, including NABT, AIRA, TMA, ABI, NAFER, and NAGGL, where he supports SBA lenders on complex loan restructurings and workouts. His work continues to reflect a lifelong commitment to integrity, accountability, and the responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 505 Project is a nonprofit educational initiative focused on teaching bankruptcy and tax attorneys about the power of 11 U.S.C. § 505—a rarely used section of the bankruptcy code that allows courts to determine tax liabilities. Our goal is to help professionals understand and apply this tool to provide faster, fairer outcomes for their clients.
Everything shared on this site, including research, discussions, and educational materials, is completely free to access. Our mission is to spread awareness and encourage collaboration—not to monetize this information. But the information on this website is and will remain copyrighted material.
The timing is critical. Many bankruptcy and tax professionals are struggling to help clients find paths to tax resolution. Section 505 offers a potential solution that’s been hiding in plain sight. The 505 Project was formed to accelerate learning, collaboration, and early test cases because of the coming wave of restructurings due to tariffs, inflation, and other economic turmoil on the immediate horizon.
It’s one of the most underutilized sections in bankruptcy law. Few tax professionals know it even exists, and even fewer bankruptcy attorneys have used it. The 505 Project is working to prove its potential by identifying and documenting cases that can establish precedent and make it more ubiquitous in resolving tax disputes.
No. The 505 Project is a nonprofit. The goal is to educate, collaborate, and share knowledge freely with the legal community—not to profit from it. This ensures the information remains transparent, accessible, and unfiltered by commercial interests.
Possibly—and that’s part of the reason the nonprofit exists. We expect open debate and scrutiny. If the IRS challenges the approach, it will only help clarify how the law can and should be applied. That’s how progress is made.
Not necessarily. When done correctly, these cases can be handled under Subchapter V, which is designed to move quickly and minimize costs. The goal is to pre-package strong, well-supported cases that proceed efficiently and establish solid case law for others to follow.
Not at this time, not while the non-profit application is pending.
Yes, by seeking for and advocating for the coupling of 11 USC section 505 and section 553 we want to obtain offsets for borrowers on SBA, USDA and other government backed loans who may be entitled to seek and petition for refund of large dollar amounts that the IRS seems unwilling to pay or is reluctant to allow.
The Internal Revenue Service owes many taxpayers for a pandemic era tax relief program for which they applied and have not been paid. The pandemic was four years ago. The OBBBA gives the IRS six years to review these claims and extends the audit window in a most unreasonable manner (our math says that is a full 10 years over which a claimant must maintain its records). Most of the ERC claims upon which it may make sense to sue the IRS over start at $250,000. Applying an offset using 11 U.S.C. 553 could result in an immediate write-down of SBA or USDA or other government loans in 120 days or less.
We do not have an official position from the United States Trustee but prior to leaving his employment on September 30, 2025 James discussed the concepts and legal strategies of The 505 Project with key personnel at the USTP including its Chief Criminal Coordinator, fellow auditors and analysts nationwide who will be reviewing future Subchapter V cases as they are filed.
Bankruptcy judges have been granted discretion under 11 USC section 505(a) the ability to abstain from hearing such matters. The timing of any lawsuit brought against the IRS may be affected by a bankruptcy judge abstaining and deferring to a higher court such as District Court. The 505 Project exists to coach bankruptcy attorneys and bankruptcy judges and their staff through the less technical aspects of such cases in controversy that might be properly brought before the court using section 505 in the wake of the Loper Bright and other recent Supreme Court decisions rather than deferring, by default, to the IRS’s choice of venue when the matter is purely one that is an argument about the amount of any ERC claim that will be paid out to directly benefit creditors via offset including the SBA and/or offsetting tax liens.
The answer to this question is unknown, that is why the 505 project exists. The 505 project will coach and encourage the SBA and its partner banks to survey their borrowers, especially borrowers whose loans have gone into the banks’ special assets portfolio to determine if there is indeed an untapped (and unencumbered) source of capital that could quickly recapitalize the loan in the manner outlined on this website via offsets.
The 505 project is unaware of any subchapter V cases that have been filed as prepackaged (meaning the votes in favor of the debtors proposed plan of reorganization were gathered and counted prior to the filing of a voluntary petition).
A prepackaged subchapter V case could allow for a confirmation hearing to be happening on about the same day that the Internal Revenue Service is required to answer a complaint under section 505. A confirmation hearing could be held in which evidence is heard on a preliminary basis as to the strength of the lawsuit against the IRS. The timing and coincidence of both of those hearings is what may tee up the IRS lawsuit a “Core Matter” as a (or rather “the”) central tenant to the Debtor’s plan of reorganization, removing the likelihood that a Bankruptcy judge would feel it appropriate to abstain from hearing the matter as long as the tax case does not dive too deeply into tax law.
Failure to obtain a forbearance agreement from the SBA or other government agency via the partner bank could potentially PERMANENTLY foreclose any future ability of the borrower to participate in government lending programs. SBA loans typically contain ipso post facto language which contain a prohibition against filing a voluntary bankruptcy petition.
Even if it is a creditor, the IRS and other Federal government agencies by definition, do not get to vote on a plan of reorganization in any chapter of bankruptcy including subchapter V.
This is a great question, and is very timely. The 505 Project believes that by bringing another creditor which is also the government into the plan as a voting party via its partner bank such as on an SBA loan and actively seeking for the government agency to surface and assert its offset right under section 553, the non voting party problem is solved because the government can be treated as one creditor under the unitary creditor theory ensconced in 553 (in re: Turner 1996 10th Circuit).
The IRS does not get to vote on any reorganization plans but it does have the right to object if it is a creditor.
A consensual plan is a plan of reorganization in Subchapter V in which NO creditor votes against a plan of reorganization. A nonconsensual plan is when at least one creditor (who is allowed to vote) votes against the confirmation.
It happens all the time.
In a consensual plan under subchapter V The debtor obtains its discharge upon the effective date of the plan meaning the date that the payments under the plan are first sent out. In other words at the beginning of the plan. This is a feature that is unique and special to subchapter V.
Not necessarily. Insolvency is when the value of a debtor’s assets are exceeded by its liabilities. If a loan goes into default, even technical default on one missed payment, the borrower is entitled to file bankruptcy to resolve such a default.
Yes. The outcome of the lawsuit that is material to the plan may prevent the plan from being granted confirmation in bankruptcy court. However, if the plan is crafted properly, the outcome of a lawsuit that might last six years (coincidentally, the IRS has been given six years to get through its ERC backlog) can still be drafted around by an experienced bankruptcy attorney. The dollar amounts at play within the plan can be left undetermined but percentages can be figured out based on best-estimates of the ultimate outcome of the lawsuit. An advantage to this is that while the lawsuit is pending deadlines and statutory or statute of limitation issues can be tolled so that rights (such as appeal rights on an ERC claim) that might be lost in the absence of litigation, will not expire or be forfeit absent litigation.
Help Bring Section 505 Out of the Shadows
The 505 Project exists because attorneys, accountants, and financial professionals deserve to know every lawful tool at their disposal.
Your voice, experience, and curiosity can help uncover new ways to apply Section 505 and shape the future of bankruptcy-tax law.
Whether you host a presentation, contribute research, or simply share what you learn, your involvement strengthens the movement.
