Ask Maxi · Your return
I have not filed in three years. What happens now?
You file them, oldest first, and in most cases the result is far less frightening than the silence has been.
What is true: the failure-to-file penalty is roughly ten times the failure-to-pay penalty, so filing late is much cheaper than not filing. There is no statute of limitations on an unfiled year, so the problem does not age out on its own. And if the IRS files a substitute return for you, it gives you no deductions, no business expenses and the worst filing status, which is how a modest year turns into a large assessment.
What is also true: refunds expire after three years, so an old year with a refund can simply be gone. And once the returns are filed, a balance can usually go on a payment plan, sometimes at a lower total than the notices suggest.
The order matters, the transcripts matter, and doing it quietly before the IRS escalates matters most. That is ordinary work for us, and nobody here is going to be shocked by your shoebox.
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