Not sure it applies to a disputed debt. Otherwise I could bankrupt any (non-billionaire) person by just claiming they owe me a billion dollars and then "forgive

Not sure it applies to a disputed debt. Otherwise I could bankrupt any (non-billionaire) person by just claiming they owe me a billion dollars and then "forgive" them. And then I could get a billion-dollar tax write-off. I am pretty sure IRS is not that insane to fall for such a scheme. Though maybe with hospitals it works, it's a bizarro world there.