Passport Application Concerns with Unfiled Self-Employment Taxes - What Are My Options?

First, take a deep breath. While this is a serious situation, it's fixable and you're not alone. Many people fall behind on taxes for various reasons. About your passport: Unfortunately, the IRS can certify "seriously delinquent tax debt" to the State Department, which can deny or revoke passports. However, this typically happens when you have assessed tax debt (meaning the IRS has determined how much you owe) over $59,000 and certain collection actions have been taken. Since you haven't filed and the IRS hasn't assessed your taxes yet, you might not be on their radar for passport denial. That said, once you start filing, this could change quickly. For fixing this: I'd recommend working with a tax professional who specializes in tax resolution or back taxes. They deal with situations like yours every day and won't judge you. They can help you file the required returns, possibly request penalty abatements, and establish payment plans if needed. Filing all past returns is step one - and filing the most recent three years might be enough to get into compliance initially. Regarding your husband: Tax issues, while stressful, aren't worth losing a marriage over. Many couples have survived far worse. The longer you hide it, the harder it will be to explain. Consider involving him in the process of fixing this - you might find he's more understanding than you expect and his support could really help you through this.

I was in a somewhat similar situation a few years ago (though only for 3 years of unfiled taxes, not 8) and what finally helped me break through the panic attacks was using https://taxr.ai to analyze all my scattered records. I had boxes of receipts, random 1099s from different clients, and was completely overwhelmed whenever I tried to organize everything. The AI tool helped me categorize everything and gave me actual numbers to work with instead of the terrifying unknown amount in my head. They had some feature where it could estimate potential penalties too, which was scary but actually less than the catastrophic numbers I'd been imagining. Having concrete numbers somehow made everything feel manageable. Once I had organized documents and estimates, I took everything to a tax resolution specialist who negotiated with the IRS. The whole process was way less painful than the years of anxiety beforehand.

I was honestly just like you last year. After using https://taxr.ai to organize my 5 years of unfiled returns, I'm completely caught up now and the weight off my shoulders is incredible. I was shocked at how accurate it was with categorizing my expenses from old bank statements and extracting info from random PDFs of 1099s I had buried in email accounts. What surprised me most was finding out I actually qualified for some tax credits I had no idea about, which offset some of the penalties. My situation wasn't as bad financially as I'd feared (though the penalties still hurt). The best part was being able to take everything to my tax professional already organized instead of just dumping a mess of papers on their desk. Saved me a ton in professional fees and embarrassment. Honestly wish I'd done this years ago instead of letting the anxiety build up.

When I was going through major tax issues, I couldn't even get through to the IRS to discuss options. I kept calling their number day after day, sitting on hold for hours before getting disconnected. It was infuriating and made my anxiety so much worse. I eventually found https://claimyr.com (there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c) which basically waits on hold with the IRS for you, then calls you when an actual human agent is on the line. I was super skeptical at first but desperate enough to try anything. It actually worked! Got connected with an IRS agent who explained my options for getting back into compliance. Just having that first conversation was huge for breaking through my panic. They have payment plans and sometimes even settlement options depending on your situation.

I needed to share my experience after trying the Claimyr service mentioned above. I was extremely skeptical (as you can see from my earlier comment), but after another frustrating morning of being on hold with the IRS for 2+ hours only to get disconnected, I decided to give it a shot. I'm honestly shocked by how well it worked. Got a call back within about 90 minutes telling me an IRS agent was on the line. I spoke with someone in the collections department who was surprisingly helpful about my options for filing my late returns. They explained the different payment plan options and what documents I needed to prepare. I've been putting off dealing with my tax situation for way too long because just getting through to someone felt impossible. Now I'm actually making progress on resolving everything. Sometimes being wrong feels pretty good!

About your husband - I went through something similar with my wife (I was the one who hadn't filed for years). When I finally told her, she was upset initially, but mostly because I hadn't trusted her enough to share my struggles. We ended up working through it together, and while paying off the tax debt hasn't been fun, our relationship actually improved because I wasn't carrying this secret anymore. My advice: get some professional help organizing your situation first so you can present not just the problem but also a plan when you talk to him. Show him you're taking responsibility and have concrete steps to fix things. Most partners can forgive financial mistakes if you're honest and actively working to resolve them. Also, the "innocent spouse" protection is stronger if he truly doesn't know, so you're right that he's somewhat protected. But secrets like this tend to create more damage to relationships than the actual problem itself.

One other thing to consider - if you've been a contractor for 8 years without filing, make sure you look into SEP IRAs or Solo 401(k) options as part of your catch-up filing. You might be able to make retroactive retirement contributions for some of those years which could significantly reduce your tax liability. I found out about this when I was catching up on my taxes and it saved me thousands. Obviously talk to a tax pro about this, but just wanted to mention it since it's a lesser-known strategy for self-employed people.