What should I do if I haven't filed income tax in 3 years?

Question

Is it possible to file taxes for the years I missed? Could I request W-2's for previous years? What are the consequences for my actions?

Answer 1

You can and must file an overdue tax return for any year in which you owe tax to the IRS. However, if you are getting a refund, you only have 3 years from the original filing date to file the return AND get the refund. If you wait more than 3 years after the filing date, you can still file, but the IRS won't pay you a dime. So, it is already too late to get a refund from 2002, but you have until April 15th 2007 to file 2003's return and until April 15th 2008 to file 2004's etc. You can request W-2s from your old employers, but that doesn't always work. It is probably best to go to the IRS directly and ask them for all the information they have on you for those years. Your employers sent the IRS a copy of the same W-2s they sent you each year. Click the link in Mathew's well written response.

Remember, the IRS can always go after you for taxes you owed in years in which you didn't file, but they won't give you a refund if you don't file within 3 years. Good luck!

One more happy thing, if they owe you money (refund), they will pay you interest for the time they held your money. Cool, huh? However if you owe them, there will be penalties as well as interest you owe them. You have to claim the interest they pay you on your next year's tax return, but you can't write off the interest you pay them. Totally unfair! One more thing, the form is NOT a 1040X as the first responder mentioned. The 1040X is when you have already submitted a tax return and need to make changes or "amendments".

Hope this helps :)

Answer 2

You may still file returns for any years that you have missed. It will be necessary to reconstruct your income and deductions for those years which may be difficult. In some cases you can request information from the IRS as to what has been reported as income and make that a starting point. The one thing that I have found is that some people get money back from those prior year returns because they were not aware of credits and deductions that would have applied. I would strongly suggest that you contact a tax professional as you find that they may just save you more than they charge. The following link will give you the form necessary to get a transcript of all W-2s and 1099 forms filed with the IRS with you Social Security Number (and that of your spouse if necessary)
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f4506t.pdf

Answer 3

You an still file. You should request W-2's from your employers, but you can request them from the IRS. You may owe, or you may be due refunds. If you owe you pay (plus interest & penalty), if you get refunds (+ intererst) you celebrate.

Answer 4

Do NOT file a 1040X- you aren't amending anything-
reconstruct the tax years and file them fresh.

Answer 5

Your best bet to make sure that you are completely covered legally would be to call yourself a tax attorney and pay him to get the headache of dealing with all the jargon and paperwork and all that crap. My husband thought it would be cheaper to do it ourselves and we still haven't resolved it. They deal with it everyday and will know all the deductions that you may not think about!! Believe me save yourself the headache and get a tax attorney.

Answer 6

you can file 1040x for each year missed. you can also get w2s from your employer or contact irs-they have copies.
consequences for not filing- the irs will attach everything you own and auction it off. if they feel you did not file on purpose you will also do time.

Answer 7

RUN before it's too late!

Answer 8

get a lawyer.