Do I owe back taxes?

[CoffeeCat]

I hope it is ok to post this question here. With all of the smarties on
DU, I thought someone might point me in the right decision--before I have
to call a tax attorney.

I just got a letter from the IRS, stating that I never filed my taxes in 1997
or in 2004.

I've always filed and paid my taxes on time. Always.

I told the IRS that I most certainly did file both years, and in 2004 I filed
jointly with my husband. The guy on the phone said, "Oh yes, you did file in
2004. We have it here, but we're not showing anything for 1997."

Unfortunately, I do not have records of my filed taxes---for any year before 1999.
When we moved, some of my records were lost.

I've asked the IRS for my W-2s for that year and also a 1997 tax form. I'll re-file.
However, to the IRS--I didn't file!

My husband say that the IRS can't call you up and expect that you've kept records from
a decade prior. I say--they can do what they want. I'm moving forward to resolve this
and I'll give them whatever they need and want.

Does anyone have any advice or insight for me as I work to resolve this?

[NMDemDist2]

1. did you get a refund or pay them? sometimes they keep check records

longer :shrug:

be a place to start anyway, esp. if you paid them. chances are you may be able to track your check down

[madinmaryland]

2. Not sure if you would even be liable for 1997.

I think they can only go back seven years. We only keep records back for seven years.

[CountAllVotes]

3. yes I do

I had the same thing happen to me (however, I did not file because I didn't need to file). Then I needed to file and did not. I called the IRS up and they had a record of all of the activity for the years in question and sent me this stack of stuff.

I then went and hired a tax person to prepare and file the claims. I did not owe the IRS anything but I did manage to get this cleared up. I don't know how old you are, but I managed to get someone from the local Senior Resource Center to help me. An accountant wanted over $1,000.00 for this; the tax person from the Senior Resource Center charged about $350.00 for the two years in question.

I haven't heard a thing since and I have all of my tax returns and info. going back to 1985 believe it or not.

Call the IRS and talk to them and tell them your situation and that you don't have any paperwork for 1997 and that they need to send you what they have so you can file.

Best of luck to you and keep copies of all of that stuff - you just never know when it might come up (again).

[ThomCat]

4. If y ou got a refund that year, maybe their records screw up

will get you a second one. :7

[INdemo]

5. The best way to resolve this is find your tax copies

If that is not possible ..Call them most generally.. the rep is easy to work with..They could figure your taxes plus charge you penalties and hold all refunds until tax debt is paid..but 1997? are you sure it was a legit letter from the IRS? Could it be a scam?

[Warpy]

6. You are legally required to keep records for 5 years, I think

and if they want to go after you, they're pretty much out of luck.

However, if you deposited a refund that year or if you paid what you owe, that bank WILL have a record of it. Some banks will keep microfilmed copies of checks in perpetuity, both deposited and posted to your account. At the very least, they'll be able to offer you a printout of your account.

Good luck.

[CoffeeCat]

7. Thank you everyone...

...for taking the time to respond. DUers are so generous.

I do not remember details about 1997--if they owed me or if
I owed them. Isn't that terrible! However, I hope to unearth
the answers soon. The IRS is sending me my W-2s from that year
and also a tax form.

I'll know very soon if I paid or if they owed me. And I guess
I'll move forward from there. If I did owe--and they have no
record of me paying or filing--my concern is penalties and fees!

I appreciate all of your insight so much. :)

[GumboYaYa]

8. I believe the staute of limitations for a failure to file is six years.

It starts to run when the return is due, hence the confusion between five and seven years. This is from memory and I always have to look this up to be certain, but I think you are past the time when they could do anything about 1997 unless you got extensions to file back then.

[Tesha]

9. Obviously, you should see a lawyer, not us.

Obviously, you should see a lawyer, not us. ;)

But I think the key for you is that unless they're
charging something like criminal evasion, they
can't go back very far. Some posters have said
five years, others have said seven, but it's
certainly no longer than that. Given that there's
no longer an issue with your 2004 taxes, they
don't seem to have much cause to treat you as
a criminal or an habitual non-filer, so the
usual, short records retention period that
we've been discussing should apply.

I also second all the suggestions about records
reconstruction. Whether you wrote the IRS a
check for taxes due or cashed their refund check
to you, your bank (of that time) might be able
to help you out. The only way you wouldn't have
transacted a check one way or the other was if
you had no withholdings and had no-tax status,
if you with magically came within a dollar of
the amount of tax due, or if you rolled a refund
over into the next year's withholdings, and it
sounds like your not the kind of big-time taxpayer
who needs to do that.

If it were me, I guess I'd talk to the IRS first
and probably frankly ask them what is the most
they would do in terms of enforcement. If it's
nothing, say "Okay, thanks". If it's something,
and you can't come up with *ANY* records and
the fees and penalties are more expensive than
the attorney, then spend a few hundred on a
good tax attorney; their advice is a lot more
valuable and useful than ours. And if the IRS
owes you a refund for 1997 that exceeds the
non-filing penalties, buy us a cuppa coffee. ;)

Tesha

[Warpy]

10. The lawyer comes in if they refuse to back down

which, thanks to the statute of limitations, they will probably do.

This sounds like a new broom trying to sweep so clean it gets promoted to mop. You know, a brash young thing looking for a reputation.