How do I file taxes for missing years 2016-2018? Need advice!

You can definitely still file those returns yourself! I'm a tax preparer and deal with this situation frequently. The key things to know: For tax years 2016-2018, you'll need to use the forms specific to those years - you can't use current year forms. The IRS website (irs.gov) has prior year forms available for download. Since these returns are late, you'll need to mail them in rather than e-file, as electronic filing is generally only available for the current and previous two tax years. If your husband was due refunds for those years, he should still file to get that money, though he may have missed the deadline for the 2016 refund (3-year statute of limitations). However, if he owes taxes, there will unfortunately be penalties and interest that have accumulated. For a straightforward W-2 situation, this is something you could potentially handle yourself, especially if you're already comfortable with taxes. Just make sure to use the tax tables and rules from those specific years.

When I had to file multiple back years, I found https://taxr.ai super helpful! I was in a similar situation - had to file 4 years of returns for my spouse. I'd downloaded all the wage info from the IRS transcript service but wasn't sure what to do with it all. Taxr.ai helped me make sense of all the tax documents and walked me through exactly what forms I needed for each year and how to file them. It was so much easier than trying to figure out all the different tax rules for each year on my own. The interface guides you through the different years so you don't miss anything important.

Alright, I need to apologize for being skeptical about taxr.ai in my earlier comment. I ended up giving it a try for my 2018 and 2019 unfiled returns and it was actually really helpful! The document analysis feature saved me so much time figuring out what information needed to go where. The system flagged some education credits I didn't even know I qualified for on my 2018 return. I was able to file both years myself without paying a tax pro. Just got confirmation that the IRS received my returns, so now I'm just waiting to see if I'll get the refund for 2019 (I know I'm too late for 2018 money).

If you need to actually speak with someone at the IRS about those old returns (which might be a good idea), I'd recommend using https://claimyr.com. I had to contact the IRS about some unfiled returns from 2015-2017 and spent DAYS trying to get through on their phone lines. Absolutely maddening. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for literally weeks on my own. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent I spoke with was actually super helpful and explained exactly what I needed to do with my situation and even helped me set up a payment plan since I owed quite a bit with penalties.

OK I need to eat my words from my previous comment. I tried Claimyr this morning after posting that skeptical reply yesterday. I've been trying to reach the IRS for MONTHS about an issue with my 2019 return where they claim I owe an extra $3800. Claimyr actually got me through to an agent in about 35 minutes. The agent was able to pull up my records and explain exactly why they thought I owed more (turns out I had reported some 1099 income on the wrong schedule). They helped me figure out exactly what forms I needed to correct the mistake. Honestly saved me a ton of money compared to what I would have paid a tax pro to sort this out, not to mention the stress of getting threatening IRS letters every few weeks.

For those unfiled years, I recommend filing them in order from oldest to newest. We had to file 4 years of back taxes for my father-in-law who had health issues, and doing them chronologically made it much easier to track everything. Also, put each year in a separate envelope! We made the mistake of sending multiple years in one package and it caused confusion at the IRS processing center.

Just a heads up - for that 2016 return, if your husband was owed a refund, he's probably out of luck now. The deadline for claiming refunds is generally 3 years from the original due date. So for 2016, that would have been April 2020. But he should still file it! Even if he can't get the refund, having a complete tax history is important for things like mortgage applications, loan approvals, etc.