[macksmom]

My daughters father has not filed taxes in the past 3 years because he realized until he is caught up on his back child support, I receive his refund.

Well I called IRS every year to report that he wasn't filing his taxes. They told me there was nothing I could do. They said nothing would be done unless he got audited. They also said after 3 years the money is gone, no one gets it. So that means he can still get the past 3 years...

He told me last week that he is going to file taxes this year because he wants to get his child support caught up. He said he assumes he is going to need a tax attorney to get the refunds from the past 3 years, but he can't afford one and told me if I wanted the money I could hire a tax attorney for him... well I can't afford to do that.

A friend of mine told me she didn't need an attorney to get her back taxes, that they were able to pull up the last paychecks from her jobs those years and do it that way.

So my question is...

Is it possible for him to get his back taxes for the past three years without a tax attorney?:confused:

[RichardBondMan]

Of course he can file his taxes without using an attorney.

[excon]

Hello mom:

From the IRS website: "Generally, to claim a refund, you must file Form 1040X within three years from the date you filed your original return or within two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later."

If you/he didn't file a return, he can file a regular 1040 form up to 3 years from the date is was due.

It's possible that the oldest year is gone, but certainly not the last two.

excon

[macksmom]

Hello mom:

From the IRS website: "Generally, to claim a refund, you must file Form 1040X within three years from the date you filed your original return or within two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later."

If you/he didn't file a return, he can file a regular 1040 form up to 3 years from the date is was due.

It's possible that the oldest year is gone, but certainly not the last two.

excon

Yeah, he hasn't filed anything in 3 years.

Does he need his W2's from all the places he worked those 3 years, or can IRS or a tax place pull up his last check?

He went through a period of "job-hopping" to aviod child support, so he has worked quite a few places over the years. But thankfully, now he wants to try and catch up his back child support and that would really help. I told him, by filing his taxes, that is the easiest way to catch it up because it will be a big lum sum off it.

I mean, the money would be nice... but I can't afford to hire a tax attorney for him, plus that's not my responsibility... it wasn't me who didn't file in 3 years! But I told him I would look into his options and see if he could do it on his own.

[excon]

Hello again, mom:

The IRS is really nothing more than a collection agency. They are not as ALL POWERFUL as we all think they are.

He's going to have to provide as much information as he can, and he'll have to estimate the rest. The IRS DOES have records of what was paid in on his behalf. I don't know if they'll fill in what info your ex doesn't have. I know if he files for TOO much they'll say something. But, I doubt if they'll say anything about too little.

Sure, it's something he can do himself.

excon

[macksmom]

Hello again, mom:

The IRS is really nothing more than a collection agency. They are not as ALL POWERFUL as we all think they are.

He's gonna have to provide as much information as he can, and he'll have to estimate the rest. The IRS DOES have records of what was paid in on his behalf. I dunno if they'll fill in what info your ex doesn't have. I know if he files for TOO much they'll say something. But, I doubt if they'll say anything about too little.

Sure, it's something he can do himself.

excon

Awesome, thanks for your help.

I am just in awe that he is actually wanting to catch up his child support, so I am trying to get all the info he will need to do it on his own.

Thanks again!:D

[Mobea]

He can contact the IRS and they will send him a transcript of everywhere that he has worked that he had taxes withheld from or income that he earned that he owes taxes on. He can use that to file his last three year tax returns in lieu of W-2's or 1099's. He doesn't need a tax attorney, he could actually do this himself or get a local tax expert to help him. It would probably be easier to hire a tax expert and they can expidite the information from the IRS and have the programs to file all three years quickly. He will have lost any refund from 2003. It's not uncommon for people to "batch" file several years in a row. If he owes during those years, there will be penalties and interest that he will have to pay, but if he is entitled to a refund, then you will get all that is due to you for child support. But he must catch up all three years in order to determine that. No problem. This can easily be resolved.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

Mobea's answer is complete and accurate.

The only thing I have to add is that I can perform this service at very reasonable rates.

If interested, contact me at [email protected].