Owe past tax returns?

If you haven’t been filing your tax returns, you’re in good company—I’ve met both millionaires and street vendors who owe several years of returns. But you can’t hide from the IRS forever. In fact, failure to file your tax returns is a criminal offense, and you can be prosecuted and even sentenced to jail for it! Congress recently allocated more than $1 billion in Federal funding to help the IRS crack down on non-filers.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that it’s better to file and owe taxes than not to file at all. Failure-to-file penalties are stiff (and that’s not even counting the penalties and interest that you’ll face for your tax debt itself). And if you wait until the IRS files for you, you’ll miss out on deductions that could substantially lower your tax burden.

Even if you don’t owe any taxes, you still need to file your returns. You could be forfeiting valuable tax refunds, and unless you file your return within three years of the date it was due, you’ll lose that money forever.

The moral? File sooner rather than later, and if you want to make sure that you’re getting the best deal, talk to me. I have over 40 years’ experience helping individuals and businesses prepare their tax returns, and I can help you get all the deductions and credits you’re entitled to.