Like the title says, I haven't filed in about 11 years. For about 4 or 5 years, I was an independent contractor and I learned that my "employer" didn't issue / complete 1099's. I do have income records for those years (the income ranged from 20k – 40k for a couple of those years to about 100k for one of them). For the other years, including the past several, I have been W-2. I'm really worried and really just want to get all this handled and behind me. I see all these tax resolution places and they all seem so shady and the reviews are mixed. Should I get a proper attorney, CPA, or what? Like I said, I'm worried , a little scared, etc…all other areas of my life are good – I feel like this is a looming cloud. Appreciate any help. Located in CA. I don't want to go to jail or anything – and no, I'm not hiding millions in bitcoin profits or living really high on the hog.
Haven't filed in about 11 years – worried and don't know where to start! Help!
byu/603a7znc intax
Posted by 603a7znc
3 Comments
Breathe. First off… Increase your withholding. You’ll have more in your tax account if you owe. Second. Do some accounting.
How much did you make while you were 1099? Do you have receipts for expenses or bank statements? If you do, save them, do some math. And get a good faith estimate of your income those years.
If you can’t get W-2’s, the IRS keeps wage and income transcripts as long as those W-2s were filed.
Second… Take all this data to a tax pro, HR block did 3 years of back taxes for me for about $500-600 this past year. It was easier than I thought.
Here is some insight for your situation.
Whether the income you have been issued a 1099 or not for the years you were working as an independent contractor, you are legally required to report all income on your tax return for the applicable tax year.
As for your W2, if you have earned more than the standard deduction where you are required to file a tax return, you definitely need to get those returns filed and resolved since you have late filing penalties, interest, and possibly underpayment penalties accruing to this day as well.
With that being said, 11 years is quite a long time and you definitely want to get this resolved before the IRS takes action on the delinquent tax returns and also to stop the interest from accruing.
You should go with a qualified professional that listens to your situation carefully to take the right approach, is experienced with communicating with the IRS for the best outcome, and is able to guide you in the right direction for the future.
The information you’ve provided is quite limited so I’m not sure how much income we’re talking about here but you might also want to get some strategic tax planning done as well to lower your taxes to the fullest extent and to ensure sure you don’t pay a cent more in taxes than you are legally required to for any given year.
Since you live in CA I recommend you consult with a tax professional first. You can look at these sites to find someone who specializes in this area (tax resolution):
– https://www.astps.org/tax-help/
– https://taxcure.com/
– https://taxrepdirectory.com/
– https://taxexperts.naea.org/expertdirectory (look for NTPI fellows)
IRS generally will only want the last six years filed for you to get back into compliance, but California may want you to file all the years you have missed.