What to Do If You Haven't Filed Taxes in Years

If you haven't filed taxes in a long time, it's easy to be freaked out. But you don't have to. My name's Jay with Washington Tax Services. For nearly 30 years, we've been assisting people to get into compliance with the IRS the easiest, simplest, and least expensive way. Here's how it usually starts... Your wife's looking to buy a house, your kid's applying for a student loan, you're looking to renew your passport, you're getting a vague and unusual letter from the IRS, or it's April 15th and you're wondering, "what do I do this year?" But you don't have to be stuck. You've made your first step and we're going to figure out how to resolve this case together. Our first step is to research your record: find out when the last year you filed is, find out if you owe taxes, and get all your necessary transcripts to file your returns. Most of you are going to fall in the category of filing and getting refunds. You're going to file your last three to four years, enjoy your refunds, and move on. Your tax return is due on April 15th of every year. Your 2014 return is due April 15, 2015. You have three years—or April 15, 2018—to get your refund. After that you lose it. So most of you are going to file three or four years, enjoy your refunds, and move on. If you haven't filed taxes, quite possibly it's because you're going to owe. And that's where categories two and three come into play. Category two: you can afford to pay what you owe but you just haven't filed and often we're going to recommend that you file the last couple years, file returns that maximize your deductions, and you're going to pay everything that you owe including penalties and interest. And that is with the intention of closing any future scrutiny from the IRS. In category three, paradoxically, we're going to have you file as many tax returns as you can, seven to ten years, you're going to owe a lot of money, and we're going to look to get you a settlement with the IRS through the Offer in Compromise procedure. That settlement will also restore your security credits at a substantial discount. Wherever you're at, there's a way forward. One: you file your last three or four years and enjoy your tax refunds. Two: if you are going to owe the IRS, you file your last couple of years and then pay all that you owe with penalties and interest. Three: if you can't afford to pay what you owe the IRS you'll file seven to ten years and settle your debt later through an Offer in Compromise. The vast majority of our clients that follow one of these three paths, well, they move on with their life. But in the rare circumstance you get a letter from the IRS asking you to file some of the older returns, we recommend that you comply. Please visit our website, watax.com, send us an email with your questions, or call us. For three decades, we've been helping Americans all around the world, just like you, resolve their tax issues, lower their anxiety, and get you back on track. My name's Jay and thanks for watching.