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Forgot to file my taxes.

Tude

Tude

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
11,205
So I'm digging around in my room for my w2 to file my taxes right now, and I find my w2 from three years ago. It hits me-I never filed my taxes that year! Fuck. I remember I put off filing them because I couldn't find a form the community college had given me stating what my tuition expenses had been-I forget the name of it.

So what do I do now? I had only worked the last +/-4 months of that year, part time, and I think I was going to school part time as well, I don't think I was going full time. My job at the time was minimum wage (my first job), my parents claimed me as a dependent, and my school was paid by a scholarship. I've filed my taxes every year after that online myself. How do I fix this?
 
I do believe you can file back taxes, up to three years in arrears in the US.
 
I sure hope so. I feel terrible about this!
 
Your parents claimed you on their return that year, so I wouldn't even bother with it.
 
I've filed taxes several years late without a problem. You just file them like you normally would.
 
tkarr said:
probably only like 3-5 minimum security
Click to expand...


lol!




I think you're good, Tude. You've got two things going for you. 1. You were earning a part-time income, likely ensuring that you earned less than the minimum yearly earnings required to file a tax return. I've been in that boat twice, once in 2007 and once in 2011. Both those years I made fuck-all from my part-time jobs and was refunded every red cent taken out of my weekly paychecks for those years. 2. You were claimed as a dependent on your parents' return. While that's not a blanket reason not to file, it's likely that they included your income in their own tax filing and completely took care of your tax responsibilities in the process.


Here's a pretty useful page about taxes for a relatively tax-ignorant person:

Forbes: When to File Your First Tax Return
 
I think you have to make something like 22,000 and over to even owe taxes....anything under that, you get all the federal taxes you paid in, back.....

the only thing they keep is SSI and Medicare, I think....

Provided you made under that amount and taxes were being deducted by your employer from your checks, I don't see how you could owe money from that year.....If anything, you probably had money coming back to you....

I'm not a tax expert, but I have a close relative who was an accountant for a few years and does taxes for my whole family every year....
 
BlueHues said:
I think you have to make something like 22,000 and over to even owe taxes....anything under that, you get all the federal taxes you paid in, back.....

the only thing they keep is SSI and Medicare, I think....

Provided you made under that amount and taxes were being deducted by your employer from your checks, I don't see how you could owe money from that year.....If anything, you probably had money coming back to you....

I'm not a tax expert, but I have a close relative who was an accountant for a few years and does taxes for my whole family every year....
Click to expand...

As of 2012:

Filing Status - Age - Minimum Income Requirement

Single - a. Under 65 - $9,750
b. 65 or older $11,200

Head of Household - a. Under 65 - $12,500
b. 65 or older - $13,950

Married Filing Jointly - a. Under 65 (both spouses) - $19,500
b. 65 or older (one spouse) - $20,650
c. 65 or older (both spouses) - $21,800

Married Filing Separately - Any age - $3,800

Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Children - a. Under 65 - $15,700
b. 65 or older - $16,850
 
I've made far more than 9,000 and got everything back....maybe you're just required to file if you make over a certain amount....although, I don't imagine the IRS would track you down just for not filing, unless you owed money....
 
BlueHues said:
I've made far more than 9,000 and got everything back....maybe you're just required to file if you make over a certain amount....although, I don't imagine the IRS would track you down just for not filing, unless you owed money....
Click to expand...

I'm guessing something else was at play to cause you to get a full refund, but yeah... if, as a single person, you make less than $9,750 annually and don't file, you're cheating yourself out of refunded tax money and padding governmental pockets/funds with dollars that should be in your bank account. I'm not sure if they'd come after you for not demanding your refund, though... maybe if you were like Al Capone status and they could only land tax evasion charges on you or something of that sort.



Tax laws can get pretty damn complicated. Fuckin' love Turbo Tax, man. =D
 
^Maybe I didn't actually get EVERYTHING back, but as a single person wit a run of the mill, bullshit college student job....I don't think you'd end up on the IRS's "hit list"!

the most I ever made on the books was around 40-42k, and I still got a nice little refund.....I know what number of dependents you claim can play a huge role, but for most young people makin' shit money doin' "whatever", whether or not you file taxes probably isn't gonna end up bein all that big of a deal in the end.....

If your parents are rich and hittin you off with 50k cash every year? That might be a different story, IDK!
 
I'm glad all of y'all are so knowledgeable about this! Thanks for all the advice, peeps :D I'm thinking I had a refund coming. I've been working full-time almost three years now, so I make a lot more money than I did back then. I've gotten a refund both years. I was just worried they'd try to audit me. Glad I can just file and get it over with.

Now the problem lies in whether or not the school I used to go to still has a record of my tuition from three years ago...
 
They would still have it. You may even be able to get this information from their website.
 
Great! I'll try that. Hopefully, their shitty website comes through for me just this once.
 
As a rule of thumb, file a return. This does two things: it prevents others from filing for you Identity theft and you just might just might be due a refund. One other more thing if you do it yourself it is free.
 
Yeah, I'm definitely gonna file a return. I just gotta get that form from the school. Thanks, everyone!
 
You don't have to worry about it unless you're audited, and even then if you were making under the minimum amount you are not likely going to get into trouble.
 
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