I received a notice in the mail recently stating that I failed to file income tax with the state of RI in 2004. I have been a RI resident my entire life and have filed taxes yearly, not sure what happened in 2004, but anyway... looking for some possible advised.

I have been working full time in Massachusetts since 2002, and typically I file a non resident MA form, federal and resident RI form. I usually get a very small return from the State of Mass and typically break even in RI as I do not receive any income from RI. The recent letter I rec'd from the state reports they do not have a file on record for me in 2004yet they are aware of income I have rec'd. They are claiming that I owe them 900.00 for the year and another 900.00 in late fees (this is the first notice)... I have asked my employer for my W2 from 2004 and will attempt to file late with RI. However, do I have any recourse? Why are they only notifying me now... and I'm 99% sure I filed a RI income tax return in 2004. Unfortunately for me, I am horrible at record keeping giving the fact that I have moved around quite a bit in the past 7 years. Does anyone have any advice for me? I can only respond the letter in writing and the letter needs to be rec'd by the end of this month. I was planning on sending in another 04 state form completed with my w2 info from 2004, and explaining that I DID file... any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Your only recourse is to do what you're doing - file your 2004 tax return ASAP, and send a copy with your letter of explanation. If you can show that taxes owed RI for 2004 is $0, then there should not be any penalty imposed for late payment. Lesson learned: keep copies of your tax returns.

You need to file 2004 RI tax return. Try hard to locate copy of your 2004 federal tax return and other state return. If you do not file copy of 2004 tax return, you can get it from IRS. You can get transcripts for free or copy of return for $39 payment.
Read Copy of Tax Returns and Transcripts at Your U.S. Tax Return: The U.S. Income Tax Topics 1 (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/08/us-income-tax-topics-1.html)

I suspect that you mailed the 2004 RI return, and it either got lost in the mail or the RI tax authorities lost it.

If you made a payment with the 20p04 RI return, see about getting a copy of the cancelled check (your bank keeps the cancelled checks on microfiche for up to 20 years).

That cancelled check should be proof positive that the return was in fact filed. If there is NO cancelled check (even though you wrote a check), then RI never got the return.

Like ebaines said, if you have a refund due, filing the return should resolve the problems with RI about the past due amount and the late fees. Unfortunately, you have FORFEITED any rights to the refund.