If You Haven T Filed Taxes In 4 Years

For example the filing deadline for individual returns for the tax year 2019 was july 15 2020 after being extended from the usual april date due to the coronavirus.

If you haven t filed taxes in 4 years.

Whatever the reason once you haven t filed for several years it can be tempting to continue letting it go. You haven t filed your federal income tax return for this year or previous years. We have tools and resources available such as the interactive tax assistant ita and faqs. A surprising number of people miss out on money they re owed as 1 5 billion in unclaimed refunds remain outstanding as of last july according to the irs but the chance to claim your share of that money doesn t last forever you only have a three year window.

If the irs filed for you you ll want to replace the substitute for returns with returns of your own to reduce the balance they assessed. Perhaps there was a death in the family or you suffered a serious illness. First if you think you re due a refund your primary concern should be that you are leaving money on the table. As we have previously recommended if you haven t filed taxes in a long time you should consider two paths.

The failure to file penalty also known as the delinquency penalty runs at a severe rate of 5 up to a maximum rate of 25 per month or partial month of lateness. It is business as usual. Haven t paid taxes in years. Filing six years 2014 to 2019 to get into full compliance or four years 2016 to 2019 to just focus on available refunds.

This is in line with the irs statute of limitations. As a general rule once you file a tax return the irs only has ten years to go after your tax debt. We are available to assist you via phone email or video calls. For each return that is more than 60 days past its due date they will assess a 135 minimum failure to file penalty.

But you may ask what happens if you do file your taxes. My income is modest and i will likely receive a small refund for 2019 when i file. If you owed taxes for the years you haven t filed the irs has not forgotten. I haven t filed taxes in over 10 years.

The statute of limitations for refunds is three years from the original filing deadline for the return. This means that not filing taxes for 10 years may result in a huge amount of penalties. If you re getting refunds and won t owe taxes you can focus on the last four years only as the statute of limitations prevents refunds beyond 3 4 years. However not filing taxes for 10 years or more exposes you to steep penalties and a potential prison term.

Regardless of your reason for not filing a required return file your tax return as soon as possible. If you haven t filed your taxes with the cra in many years or if you haven t paid debt that you owe you should act to resolve the situation. Statute of limitations for refunds. Your 2016 tax refund is actually available until july 15 2020.