An extension gives you more time to file — but not more time to pay. If you didn’t file by the extended deadline (usually October 15), the IRS considers your return late.

Penalties and interest start adding up the day after the original due date — not the extension deadline. So the longer you wait, the worse it gets.

It usually starts with good intentions — maybe you were missing a form, or your CPA ghosted you, or life just got busy.

Then one year rolls into another and suddenly you’ve got multiple years on extension or unfiled. It snowballs fast — and so do the penalties.

The failure-to-file penalty is way steeper than the failure-to-pay penalty.

• Not filing: 5% of what you owe per month, up to 25%.
  
  
• Not paying: 0.5% per month.

 So filing something is always better than filing nothing.

File anyway. You can always set up a payment plan or negotiate what you owe later — but the biggest penalty is for failing to file. The IRS wants you to get the return in first.

Then you can sort out paying in chunks, or look at options like penalty abatement or an Offer in Compromise.

The IRS typically wants at least the last 6 years to get you back in good standing. If they owe you a refund for any of those years, you only have three years from the original due date to claim it — after that, your refund disappears forever.

So don’t wait too long.

Not a deal breaker. I can pull your official IRS Wage & Income transcripts for any year going back about 10 years.

We rebuild what’s missing, cross-check it with any bank statements or records you still have, and file a best-effort return. The worst thing is doing nothing.

Eventually, yes — if you stay in hiding. They can file a “Substitute for Return” for you, but that version only counts your income — no deductions, no credits, no mercy.

That usually means you owe way more than you would if you filed it yourself. Plus, they can levy bank accounts, garnish wages, or file liens.

It depends how many years you’re behind and how organized you are. One or two years? I can often get you filed within days.

Multiple years with missing info? Might take a few weeks — but the sooner you start, the faster the stress stops piling up.