I know I’m a POS for starters. I owed one year and I just never filed again, I don’t have a good answer as to why though.
I don’t have my W2’s for the previous 5 years. And I’ve worked for multiple companies. Would it be best to try to contact all previous companies and ask them for old W2’s or is it easiest to do the free wage thing through IRS.gov?
Extremely nervous about this whole thing. It started with owing a very small amount of money, and now I’ve just let it get out of hand, and I’m terrified of all the penalties and interest I’ve accumulated. But I’d like to get this all behind me.
Thanks for any answers/advice.
Haven’t filed my taxes in years and don’t have my W2 forms.
byu/burntboner intax
Posted by burntboner
3 Comments
It’s much easier to just get your wage & income transcript for each year through the IRS website. To make your account, you’ll need a device with an internet connection and a camera, like a smartphone, along with photo government-issued ID.
You want to prioritize your 2022 return (deadline to file to claim a refund is 4/15/26) and 2025 return (deadline to file on time, which mostly matters if you owe the IRS, is 4/15/26). Do those first, then work on your other years.
* 2025 can be filed electronically without any big obstacles.
* 2024 and 2023 can be filed electronically by a tax professional without any big issue, or you can DIY them if you get a one-time Identity Protection PIN from the IRS website. Not all softwares are capable of doing this.
* 2022 and earlier *must* be filed on paper via the mail. Include a copy of the wage & income transcript for that year with your return (normally you’d include copies of your W-2s and such; this is the replacement for that). If you’re due a refund on 2022, be sure to pay to mail it Certified (or Registered), so that you get a receipt proving when you mailed it. If you owe, there’s no particular need to do that, and no need to do that for the earlier years.
* Expect the IRS to send you a letter asking “hey, was this you? if it was, please do <stuff> to verify that it was you”. Follow the directions in that letter. **Do not ignore that letter.** Your returns are not fully filed until you have verified your identity.
For each year, if you owe the IRS, they’ll send you a letter formally saying “hey, you owe us $X in base tax, and $y in penalties and $Z in interest if you pay by <date>”. Once you get that letter for each year that you owed + file each year that you didn’t owe, you can sign up for a payment plan. Most of the time, you can do that on the IRS website; in certain circumstances, you may have to call or write to the IRS instead. Try to do it on the website first, as that has the lowest setup fees.
Edit: If you live(d) or work(ed) in a state with income tax, you will want to try to get your actual W-2s, because the IRS transcripts do not have any state information on them. Or the state(s) in question may have their own transcript type thing that you can get.
This situation is very common, more so than one might think.
Get the IRS transcripts and then make it a priority to get all the returns done. Typically done in order. You might want to file an extension for 2025 just to buy a little time to file (but not to pay). Then tackle year by year. Seek a professional to help you knock these out.
What state(s)?
Were all the jobs W-2 jobs? Or were you an independent contractor (receiving 1099s or no form at all)?
The part that makes me nervous is that you say you owe money – how do you know that? If they were all W2 jobs, you might not owe anything and may have been owed refunds for some of that time, because estimated taxes are withheld on every paycheck. But if you were an independent contractor and never had taxes including SS + Medicare withheld, then… yeah, you owe.
If you were an independent contractor, there aren’t any W-2s. Whether you were misclassified and should have been an employee – that’s another story.
The upside if you were an independent contractor is … that makes it easier – no W2s, no state withholding. Just get your info together (1099 info from the IRS helps) and file. You should ideally have your own records
If you’re able to get the W2s, GET them. The W2s include all info, including STATE info, which you don’t get from the IRS website. Now, if you’re in a no income tax state, then that difference isn’t as important.
u/sorator is spot on procedurally. 2022 is THE priority right now, you have a few days left if you’re owed any refunds from 2022!