Information about Non-Filing of Tax Returns

If you have not filed your taxes in a couple of years, you are probably getting horror stories that other non-filers have experienced. Penalties, fines, and even jail time are but few of the consequences for not filing your annual taxes. Even right at this very moment, your attention is possibly being called by the IRS. You are probably receiving notices from the IRS requiring you to settle your dues now. Before you make matters worse, you may want to act on this tax obligation now. But what do you do when you've apparently broken the law and you haven't filed your taxes for one, two, even three years? Certainly, you are inviting IRS problems in your doorstep.

Filing the un-filed tax returns is the first step to setting your records with the IRS straight. You must do this even if you have doubts regarding your capacity to pay for all tax dues, including applicable penalties and fees. In the rare occasion that you are in fact entitled to a refund rather than penalties, you still have to move quickly. Otherwise, if it takes you a long time to file for those tax returns, your benefit of getting the refund will be lost. 

Depending on your specific circumstance, consequences for not filing your taxes may vary. If you are a non-filer, setting your records straight will not only get you back in your financial track, it'll also implore the IRS to stop enforcing penalties on you. This may come as a surprise but many people who are non-filers don't even have tax dues. They simply didn't file because they did not have the time or didn't have the needed background. Now, they're facing a major IRS problem.  

When you've decided to finally file for your tax returns, you might want to seek professional advise. He/She can certainly help you out as you go through the procedures of filing and as you face current and subsequent IRS problems. Surely, his/her experience in the field will allow him/her to give you good advice regarding IRS guidelines. 

Be sure to bring as much information as you can when meeting with your accountant. Leave it to him/her to determine which documents are and are not needed. Examples of these forms are your W-2's, 1099's, receipts or supporting documentations for certain purchases, social security numbers of your dependents and a copy of the last tax return that you have filed with the IRS. These must all be available to your tax accountant. As a result, it will be less taxing for him to reconcile your tax records.

Benefits of duly filing for past tax returns have something to do with refunds and your Social Security. The IRS outlines that you should have filed for your corresponding taxes within a three-year period if you would want to claim a refund. After that period, your right to a refund is forfeited and you're giving your money to the IRS. For the self-employed, delinquent filing of tax returns will keep you from receiving tax credits which will be carried over to your Social Security retirement or disability benefits. Because of this, the IRS cannot report your income to Social Security, and consequently, you will not be qualified for a credit.

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Originally posted 2008-10-12 19:07:47. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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