How screwed am I for not filing taxes in 7+ years? W2 income only

I'm 38, single, and honestly terrified about my tax situation. I haven't filed taxes in the last 7-8 years. My annual income has typically been between $60,000-$70,000, all W2 employment. I don't own property, just rent an apartment that I move from every couple years. So far, I haven't received any notices about wage garnishment or levies from the IRS (though they probably don't have my current address as I've moved several times). I'm starting to panic about the consequences and don't know where to begin fixing this mess. Some background: I had really toxic parents who misused my and my siblings' financial information when we were younger, and it's given me serious anxiety around financial matters. I freeze up whenever I try to deal with it. But I know I need to fix this situation before it gets worse. Any advice on where to start and how bad this might be would be so appreciated. Please be gentle - I know I've messed up big time, but I'm finally ready to face this.

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18 comments

Jace Caspullo

•8M

Don't panic! Your situation is actually more common than you think, and the good news is that if you've only had W2 income, you might actually be owed refunds for some of those years. The IRS generally has a 3-year limit for claiming refunds, but they can go back indefinitely for unfiled returns where you owe money. However, since your income is modest and you've had taxes withheld through your W2 employment, you may not owe as much as you fear - you might even be due refunds for the more recent years. Your first step should be gathering all your W2 forms from those years. If you don't have them, you can request wage transcripts from the IRS by creating an account at IRS.gov or filing Form 4506-T. Next, I'd suggest preparing returns for the last 6 years at minimum (current year plus 5 prior). You can use tax software to help with this, even for previous years. The IRS has programs for those who haven't filed in years, including payment plans if you do end up owing. The important thing is to start the process voluntarily before they come to you.

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Jace Caspullo

•8M

For someone in your situation with multiple unfiled years and anxiety around the process, I'd recommend working with a tax professional - specifically an Enrolled Agent (EA) who specializes in back tax filings. They often charge less than CPAs and deal with these situations regularly. The IRS typically sends multiple notices before taking collection action, so the fact that you haven't received anything might mean you're not yet a priority case. However, they could be sending notices to old addresses. You can check your IRS account status by creating an account on IRS.gov, or you can request an account transcript which would show any actions or notices they've issued.

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Melody Miles

•8M

After being in a somewhat similar situation (5 years unfiled, all W2 income), I discovered taxr.ai and it literally saved me thousands in professional fees while helping me catch up on everything. The service analyzes your tax situation and guides you through the process of filing back taxes without the crazy rates tax pros charge for multi-year catchups. I uploaded my W2s to https://taxr.ai and it automatically sorted everything by year, identified potential refunds I was owed (got back over $3k from just two years!), and walked me through filing everything properly. It even estimated my potential penalties before I filed so I knew what to expect. What I appreciated most was that it helped me understand which years to prioritize based on the statute of limitations for refunds. Turns out I was owed money for 3 of the 5 years, which I would have lost if I'd waited any longer.

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Melody Miles

•8M

They handle state taxes too! The system automatically determines which state returns you need to file based on your W2 information and guides you through the state-specific requirements. In my case, I had to file in two different states for one of the years because I moved mid-year, and it walked me through that whole process. For your question about accuracy, they actually have tax professionals who review everything before it's finalized. They helped me file all my returns - both federal and state - and even helped me set up a payment plan for the one year I owed money. The system does all the calculations and form preparation, but there's human oversight to catch any issues that might come up with complex situations.

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Eva St. Cyr

•8M

I wanted to follow up after trying taxr.ai because I was genuinely surprised. I was super skeptical as you could tell from my comment, but after my neighbor kept bugging me about it (I'm also years behind), I gave it a shot. I'm eating my words now. I was able to file 4 years of back taxes in a single weekend. The system found deductions I didn't know I qualified for, and it turns out I'm getting refunds for 3 of the 4 years! The penalties on the year I owed were also way less than I expected because of my withholding. What convinced me was their transcript analysis - they pulled my IRS transcripts and showed exactly what the IRS had on file for me, including that they had already created substitute returns for two years (which were wrong and overestimated what I owed). Fixed everything and now I'm actually getting money back instead of owing thousands.

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Kristian Bishop

•8M

If you're trying to contact the IRS directly to discuss your situation, good luck getting through. I spent WEEKS trying to reach someone about my unfiled returns. It was a nightmare. Then someone on this sub recommended Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and I actually got through to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes. They basically navigate the phone system for you and call you back when an actual human at the IRS is on the line. I was super skeptical but you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I ended up using this to arrange a payment plan after I filed my back taxes. Instead of waiting on hold for 3+ hours (which I tried twice before hanging up), I got through quickly and sorted everything out in one call. Literally saved me days of frustration.

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Kristian Bishop

•8M

Yes, it absolutely works! They use an automated system that continually calls the IRS and navigates the phone tree, essentially waiting on hold so you don't have to. When they finally reach a human agent, they call you and connect you directly to that person. It's not that they have special access - they're just handling the frustrating waiting part. As for the skepticism, I felt the same way initially. They don't have special access to the IRS - they just have technology that persistently navigates the phone system. Think of it as having someone else wait on hold for you. The beauty is that you can go about your day instead of listening to that awful hold music for hours. When I used it, I was cooking dinner when they called me back with an IRS agent already on the line.

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Axel Far

•8M

I need to apologize and follow up on my skeptical comment. After struggling for another week trying to get through to the IRS on my own (literally spent 4 hours on hold before getting disconnected), I broke down and tried Claimyr. I'm shocked to say it works exactly as described. I got a call back in about 35 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. I was able to discuss my unfiled returns, confirm what they had on file for me, and set up a plan moving forward. The agent even gave me specifics about which years to prioritize based on their records. The peace of mind from having a direct conversation with the IRS was worth every penny. I also found out they hadn't been trying to contact me at all yet (despite my paranoia), so I'm getting ahead of the problem before collection actions start.

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Jasmine Hernandez

•8M

I would recommend doing it as soon as possible, independent of catching up on your back taxes. You can request an Identity Protection PIN directly from the IRS website by going to their "Get an IP PIN" tool. This will help secure your tax account immediately, even while you're working on filing your past returns. The IP PIN is valid for one calendar year, so you'll get a new one each year. This ensures that even if someone has your personal information, they cannot file a fraudulent tax return in your name because they won't have the current PIN. Given your history of family identity issues, this extra protection is definitely worth setting up right away.

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