I have never filed taxes in the past 4 years that I have been working - desperate for advice

I'm terrified right now. For the past 4 years since I turned 18, I haven't filed a single tax return even though I've been working consistently. Before anyone starts judging me, please let me explain the situation. When I first started working at 18, I kept asking my parents for advice on how to file taxes. They always brushed me off and never gave me any real guidance. They'd just say things like "you don't make enough to worry about it" or "the government won't care about your little paychecks." Now I'm 22, and I've had about 6 different jobs over these past 4 years. Most were part-time retail or food service, but for the last year I've been at a warehouse making around $38k annually. All my jobs have taken taxes out of my paychecks, and I've received W-2s that I just kept in a folder. I recently heard someone at work talking about getting audited and now I'm freaking out. Could I go to jail for this? How much will I owe in penalties? I don't even know where to start with filing 4 years of back taxes. Should I get a lawyer? Is there a way to fix this mess I've gotten myself into? I don't have much savings but I'm willing to pay what I need to make this right.

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18 comments

Roger Romero

•8M

Don't panic! You're definitely not going to jail for this situation. Many people have gone years without filing, and the IRS has procedures in place for people who need to catch up. First, gather all your W-2 forms from those past 4 years. If you're missing any, you can request wage transcripts from the IRS by creating an account at IRS.gov or calling them directly. Generally, you should file for the past 3 years to claim any refunds you might be owed (there's a 3-year deadline for claiming refunds). But it's a good idea to file all 4 years to get completely caught up. Since you mentioned your employers withheld taxes, there's a good chance you might actually be owed refunds rather than owing money, especially if you worked part-time for most of that period. You can file back taxes yourself using tax software or forms from the IRS website, or you can work with a tax professional. If your situation is relatively straightforward (just W-2 income), software might be sufficient. If you do end up owing taxes, the IRS offers payment plans.

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Roger Romero

•8M

If you can't find all your W-2s, you can get the information by requesting a Wage and Income Transcript from the IRS. You can do this online through the IRS website by creating an account, by filing Form 4506-T, or by calling the IRS directly. These transcripts will show all income reported to the IRS under your Social Security number. The IRS absolutely knows if you didn't file. They receive copies of all W-2s and 1099s from employers and other income sources, and their system flags accounts where income was reported but no tax return was filed. They may not immediately pursue everyone who doesn't file, but they have the information and can come after unfiled returns at any time, with no statute of limitations until you file.

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Niko Ramsey

•8M

I was in a similar situation a few years back - hadn't filed for 3 years and was terrified about what would happen. I finally worked up the courage to deal with it, but the tax forms and calculations for multiple years were overwhelming. I stumbled across https://taxr.ai when searching for help and it literally saved my sanity. They have this really cool tool that scanned all my W-2s and documents, organized everything by year, and helped me figure out exactly what forms I needed to file for each year. The best part was how their system explained exactly what deductions I qualified for across all those years - found about $2300 in refunds I would have missed otherwise! It was such a relief to have everything organized by year and to know exactly what I needed to do for each tax year. Really helped calm my anxiety about the whole situation.

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Niko Ramsey

•8M

Yes, it absolutely works for backfiling! That's exactly what I used it for. The system automatically applies the correct tax laws and rules for each specific tax year you're filing for. It knows all the year-specific deductions, credits, and rate changes that applied during those past years. The main difference from regular tax software is it's specifically designed to handle multiple years at once and organize everything. With TurboTax or FreeTaxUSA, you have to switch between different year versions and keep track of everything yourself. This system keeps all your years organized in one place, shows you side-by-side comparisons, and helps identify things like carrying deductions between years. For me, the document scanning feature was also super helpful because I had a mess of papers from different years.

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Jabari-Jo

•8M

Just wanted to follow up on my comment! I ended up trying https://taxr.ai for my unfiled taxes from 2022 and 2023. Way better than what I was using before! The document scanning actually worked really well - it pulled all the numbers from my W-2s and 1099s without me having to type everything in. The best part was how it explained the differences between the tax years and walked me through what changed. Turns out I qualified for some education credits in 2022 that I completely missed. Got an extra $1100 back that I would have never known about! Now just waiting on the refunds to process. Such a relief to have this taken care of finally.

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Kristin Frank

•8M

After reading this thread, I have to share my experience. I was in a similar situation where I needed to file 3 years of back taxes and was losing my mind trying to get through to the IRS for guidance. Every time I called, I'd sit on hold for HOURS only to get disconnected or told to call back later. I finally found https://claimyr.com and was super skeptical, but their service is legit. They basically hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you when an actual IRS agent is on the line. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Got connected to a real IRS person in about 45 minutes (instead of the 3+ hours I spent before getting disconnected). The agent walked me through exactly what I needed to do to file my back taxes without penalties. Seriously saved me so much time and frustration!

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Kristin Frank

•8M

The service doesn't actually talk to the IRS for you - they have an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold. When an actual IRS agent picks up, their system immediately connects you to the call. It's basically like having someone else wait on hold instead of you. I totally get the skepticism, I felt the same way! But they don't ask for any tax info or personal details. They just call the IRS, wait on hold, then call your number when an agent answers. You do the actual talking to the IRS, they just eliminate the hold time. After trying to reach the IRS myself for weeks and getting nowhere, this was absolutely worth it. Believe me, I wouldn't be recommending it if I hadn't verified it myself.

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Nia Watson

•8M

OK I have to eat my words here. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try the Claimyr service myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about my unfiled taxes for literally weeks. I'm honestly shocked it worked exactly as advertised. Got a call back in 34 minutes with an actual IRS person on the line. The agent explained exactly what forms I needed for my unfiled years and even helped me set up a payment plan for what I owe. No scam, no identity theft, just saved me hours of hold time. Sometimes I'm too quick to assume everything is a rip-off. This service is 100% legit and saved me a massive headache. Already filed one of my back tax returns based on the info I got.

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Alberto Souchard

•8M

Just want to add some practical advice from someone who's worked as a tax preparer. When you're filing back taxes: 1. Start with the most recent year (2024) and work backward, since the most recent year is most important to get current. 2. If you're owed refunds, you only have 3 years to claim them, so file 2022-2024 ASAP. 3. File all years separately - don't combine multiple years on one return. 4. Be prepared for paper filing for older years as electronic filing is only available for the current and previous two tax years. 5. It's often worth paying a professional for at least a consultation to make sure you're not missing anything. Also, the penalty for failing to file is usually worse than failing to pay, so getting those returns filed, even if you can't pay right away, is crucial!

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Alberto Souchard

•8M

There's no statute of limitations for unfiled tax returns - the IRS can come after you at any time for returns that were never filed. However, once you do file, the general statute of limitations is 3 years for the IRS to audit or assess additional taxes (this extends to 6 years if you underreported your income by more than 25%). For refunds, you only have 3 years from the original due date to claim them. After that time passes, you lose the refund forever, even if you were owed money. That's why it's important to file, even years later - at minimum to start the statute of limitations clock and potentially claim refunds that aren't yet time-barred.

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