I haven't filed federal income taxes since 2017 - can I still get my refund?

Unfortunately, yes - there is a deadline for claiming tax refunds. The IRS has a 3-year statute of limitations for claiming refunds. That means you have 3 years from the original due date of the return to file and claim any refund you're owed. For a 2018 tax return, the original filing deadline was April 15, 2019. With the 3-year rule, you would have needed to file by April 15, 2022, to claim that refund. Since we're now in 2025, I'm afraid that 2018 refund is no longer available to you. As for the stimulus payments (Economic Impact Payments), those were based on your most recently filed tax returns. Since you hadn't filed, the IRS had no way to determine your eligibility or where to send payment. The good news is you can still file for more recent years! For 2020, 2021, and 2022 returns, you're still within the 3-year window, so you should file those ASAP to claim any refunds you're due. And of course, get current with 2023 and 2024 taxes too.

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I need to admit I was totally wrong about taxr.ai in my earlier comment. After feeling skeptical, I decided to give it a try for my own situation (hadn't filed 2021-2023). Not only was it way more sophisticated than I expected, but they found nearly $4,200 in refunds I would have missed! The system flagged education credits I didn't know I qualified for and some business expenses from my side gig that I would have overlooked. The whole process was shockingly straightforward - upload documents, answer some questions, and the AI does all the heavy lifting. My returns were accepted by the IRS without any issues, and I already received my 2021 and 2022 refunds. Definitely wish I'd known about this service sooner instead of stressing about my unfiled taxes for so long!

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One thing to consider OP - I think you might still be able to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit for the stimulus payments you missed, but you'd need to file the appropriate year's tax return. The first two stimulus payments were for tax year 2020 (filed in 2021) and the third was for tax year 2021 (filed in 2022). You can still file those returns since they're within the 3-year window! So while your 2018 refund is unfortunately gone, you might be able to get those stimulus payments by filing 2020 and 2021 returns ASAP.

Just an FYI - while you can't get your 2018 refund anymore, you should still file that return anyway if you're going to file for later years. Having gaps in your filing history can trigger additional scrutiny, and having a complete record helps establish your overall tax situation more clearly.