Two years behind, or ten. We start with the oldest one.
Unfiled returns don't expire — but penalties stop growing the day each one is filed. We pull your IRS transcripts, work out which years are actually required, and file them in order.
Tell us how far back it goes
Rough answers are fine — we verify everything against the transcripts.
How the catch-up runs
Transcripts first
You sign an authorisation, we pull your IRS account and wage records. That shows exactly which years are open and what the IRS already knows.
Decide the years
IRS practice generally focuses on the last six years. Some older years may not need filing at all — we'll tell you which ones do.
Oldest to newest
Returns get prepared in order so credits, carryforwards and refunds land in the right year. Flat fee per year, agreed upfront.
Then the balance
Instalment agreement, short-term plan, or first-time penalty abatement where it applies. One plan, in writing.
The numbers, plainly
Failure-to-file penalty on unpaid tax, capped at 25%. It stops the day the return is filed — which is why filing comes before paying.
The window to claim a refund. Past it, a refund year you never filed is simply gone — often the most expensive part of waiting.
How far back IRS practice generally looks to consider you compliant. Not a promise — but it's usually where the work ends.
Straight answers
Will filing now trigger an audit?
Filing late is not itself an audit trigger. Staying unfiled is the riskier position — that's when the IRS can prepare a return for you, with none of your deductions in it.
Can the penalties come off?
Sometimes. First-time abatement covers a clean prior record; reasonable-cause relief covers illness, disaster, records lost with a business. We ask when the facts support it.
I genuinely can't pay what I'd owe.
File first, then choose a payment route. Instalment agreements are routine; in hard cases there's currently-not-collectible status. Nothing gets decided before you see the numbers.
It's a shorter conversation than you think
Fifteen minutes, no charge, no judgement. Most people leave the call with a list of three or four years and a fee for each.