I have never filed taxes before, so what would happen if I just up and filed this year?

Question

I am 30 yrs. old and have worked all of my adult life, but never filed. Should I leave it alone and never file? What would happen if I did? How much trouble am I in?

Answer 1

Lindsay,

This is a question I get often. First of all the worst thing you can do is ignore the situation. It is possible the IRS has filed tax returns for you if you had income reported under your social security in any given year. If the IRS did file returns for you there may be current assesments outstanding, tax liens and the IRS may be able to take enforcement action against you (ie...wage garnishments, bank levies etc..). It is also possible you had enough withholding and payment to not have a liability. Still you may wish to file the more recent years asap so that you can collect any refunds you may still be entilted to. Typically what I do in this situation is to contact the IRS and find out what status the taxpayers account is currently in, which tax return years the IRS is seeking returns for, and if there are any assements currently outstanding. The next step would be to secure a collection hold as necessary, file any returns required to get you back into compliance and set you up on a payment solution that works for you if there is a liability. I have alot of good information on website that should provide you with more answers. It is there for your review free of charge. You are of course welcome to contact me if you decide to hire professional representation. There is never a fee or obligation for the initial telephone consultation. Hope the information helps. Best of luck to you, and rest assured there is a solution that will work for you. Just don't ignore it that is the worst thing you can do.

eTaxrelief.com

Answer 2

Did you work for an employer, or have a business of your own or work "under the table"? Also, it depends on how much you made and the source of the income - you might or might not even owe anything, and might not have been required to file.

If you have worked those years for an employer, gotten a W-2 and just didn't file, then if the IRS hasn't come after you for not filing, chances are that either you didn't make enough to have to file, or they owed YOU money for all those years. You can file for 2004 and later and still get any refunds due - anything older than that it's too late.

If you had your own business or worked under the table, then you could be in trouble for not filing. The most likely situation is that you'd just have to pay the back taxes, plus penalties and interest, for the years when you didn't file, if they ever catch up to you. If you file the back returns before they catch up to you, it'll cost less and you'll be in less trouble.

In any case, file for this year and from now on - at least you'll be clean from then on. Filing isn't likely to trigger an investigation of why you didn't file for the earlier years - lots of people don't have enough income to file, and everybody who files, files a first return at SOME time.

If you just leave it alone and never file, your odds of getting caught are pretty high. Plus if you want to get a mortgage or maybe even a smaller loan, you'll have a problem when they ask for copies of your tax returns and you don't have any.

Answer 3

I would say that eventually the IRS will catch up with you. You say that you have worked all your adult life, but were you a 1099 person or a W-2 person? I'm guessing that you were probably a 1099 person as I would think that if you were a W-2 person the IRS would have asked you where your returns were. The one big problem I can see with you never having filed a return is that you won't get any credit towards collecting social security (if it's still there when you want to retire) for having worked all the years that you have worked. If you are a W-2 person your paycheck shows your social security wages, and you get credit for that with the social security office. If you are self-employed and get 1099's you need to file a tax return, and pay self-employment tax to get any credit towards social security. Plus the longer you put off filing the worse it will be if/when the IRS does catch up with you. In addition to the tax, you'll owe interest and/or penalties.

Answer 4

Some people do get in this situation. However, it's not as big as a problem, if you don't owe anything. Talk to a tax consultant. At this point, it would be worth the money to do so. You can gather your W2's from years past and still file a return for each year. I don't know if there will be penalties, if you don't owe anything. If you owe, the penalties are likely interest charges. I would definetly check with the tax adviser. Who knows, you could have a lot of money sitting the in returns that you don't know you can get.

Answer 5

Since you never filed, the statute of limitations has not started yet. (It's 3 years from the date of filing.) You could be audited and be subject to late filing penalties and interest, which would be quite extensive, depending on the amount you owe.
If you have received W-2's, then it's only a matter of time. If you are self employed, it may take longer but the penalties will be stiffer, since you knowingly evaded paying taxes. Jail time would be unlikely but possible.
File and pay up. It could save you alot of trouble later.

Answer 6

whether or not they took the taxes out of his paycheck or not, they have been nevertheless reporting his earnings to the IRS. And sure, the IRS *will* get closer him. they don't constantly do it staggering away ... yet sometime he gets a telephone call or a letter or a knock on the door and, as others have reported, he will owe all those lower back taxes plus interest and effects. As others have reported, although, in keeping together with his actual earnings and submitting prestige, he won't have unquestionably owed any funds those previous years. He may even have been entitled to get some funds lower back from the government -- lower back, in keeping with circumstances. no rely what his difficulty, although, there is not any way he would be greater suitable off by continuing to cover. He would desire to easily pass in to an IRS place of work and make issues directly.

Answer 7

especially if you've not made much money, you may never have owed taxes, and never been obligated to file, and so could be in no trouble at all.

the way you find out is to get the forms [from irs.gov online] and figure out your 2006 tax return. If it shows no taxes due and your prior years' incomes were even less, they may have also showed no taxes due, so you'd then feel better about the whole thing.

Don't forget the Earned Income Credit -- this wipes out much of the taxes for low income people.

***
Of course, it is also possible that IRS has been patiently waiting for your current location to pop up in their computers so they can send you a delinquency notice for past failures to file.


But if you don't start checking, you'll never know what is likely until it happens, will you?

:)

Answer 8

It all depends.
Have you earned money in the past?
Was your earnings above the limit for not required to file? There is a lower limit to earnings, below which you are not required to file.
I no longer have to file because my earnings are below that threshold.
But.......
The IRS is after all, the IRS

Answer 9

They're probably going to audit you and see how much you should've been paying over the years and bill you for that......and a personal note: What do you mean you didn't pay? I"m tired of having to make up the difference for the likes of you! I can't afford me, let alone you too!!!