A person needs to get IRS help when they have not filed their federal taxes for two years or more, because that person is not in federal tax compliance. When a person is not in compliance with their tax-filing requirement, then a series of things begin to happen with Uncle Sam that snowball into a big pile of trouble.
A person’s failure to file their tax returns is a serious matter and should be taken seriously in an effort to correct the problem. When a person’s failure to file tax returns continues as a pattern year after year, it ultimately means that the person has a failure to fix the problem. This failure to fix the problem can be interpreted by the United States Treasury Department’s tax unit as a willful failure to file taxes, which can lead to even more serious consequences. Thus, a person’s ability to get IRS help quickly when they have not filed tax returns for several years can minimize the escalation of their problem. The sooner the issue is addressed and fixed, the better it will be on the person who did not file their federal taxes.
When a person does not file, then Uncle Sam’s big tax collection agency whose well-known name only has three letters in it, has the power to file substitute tax returns on the behalf of the person who did not file. Yes, the I-R-S can and will file tax returns for people who do not file their own either on time or at all. When Uncle Sam takes this step and files a substitute tax return for a person, the amount of money that the person will owe in taxes is usually much higher than the amount they would have normally owed if they had just taken the steps to file themselves. At this point, the person needs IRS help from a professional to fix the problem and to try and prevent the problem from getting any worse.
Here is how the problem gets worse. Once Uncle Sam files substitute tax returns, they then take steps to collect the money that is owed from their filing. At this phase of the problem, the person is in collections with the Department of Treasury’s tax collection agency. A person needs IRS help to navigate the collection process and to work on getting out of collections as quickly as possible. It is in the collection process where Uncle Sam garnishes a person’s paycheck or takes money from their bank account by using a bank levy. It is also not uncommon for a person to receive a federal tax lien on the taxes they owe. A federal tax lien will damage a person’s credit rating and will show up on their credit report. It is also not uncommon for a Revenue Officer to track a person down to try and collect the taxes. All of these problems are unnecessary if a person will just get the proper IRS help they need from a professional before the problems escalate.