What should I do if I haven't filed taxes in a few years?
Here you are, you're hearing about all your friends filing their tax returns and you're getting a little worried because you haven't filed one for a few years. First question in your mind should be "was I required to file a tax return?" "Did I have enough income to require me to file a return?" "Yeah, I did." "No, I didn't file the return." "Am I in trouble?" You could be. "What do I do?" First thing you want to do is gather the data together for those years and file the returns. Bear in mind if you file the tax return late, and you owe money to the government, there's going to be some penalties that you're going to pay. You know, bear in mind also that if the government owed you some money, they've just been sitting on it, waiting for you to file the tax return so they could send you the refund. Also understand that if the government owes you some money, and it's more than three years past the normal due date, you're not going to see the money from the government. If you owe them some money, and it's beyond the three years, they're still going to want their money. They're a little kind of one way about things like that. But, don't panic. Usually the biggest problem people run into when they havn't filed a return is they miss one year, and then when the second year comes up, they're panic striken and they just figure "I'm off the radar. The government won't find me." Don't believe it. They'll find you sooner or later. The best thing to do is seek some professional help, get these old tax returns filed, and get back on track.
