Havnt filed in 5 years

[maximusfl]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

I havnt filed in a few years, and i read somewhere that if you didnt owe federal taxes, and they owed you, you didnt have to file. I am planning on filing 2001 to current and wanted to see what peoples opinions were. I have figured the taxes out every year but they have owed me, and i havnt filed. Do i have a chance of getting that money back or will i be hit so hard with penalties that i will want to commit harry carey? Also, i am waiting to file still because of waiting on the forms from the unemployment office from a period back in 2001 that i was accepting unemployment, can i file without that paper since it is getting close the the deadline or will that make a big impact and worth waiting a few days for. ( i have requested a duplicate copy of that document.) Also i have all the other forms needed to file except that one from unemployment from 2001 to current.

[tdavidl]

generally, if you exceed the filing threshold you should file even though you may not owe tax. simply because you don't owe them OR becuase you think you're getting money back is not an exemption to filing.

you should try & file 2001 before next friday, otherwise youmay be out of luck if they owe you. even if you have to go with your best guess on the unemployment, don't wait for the documents.

you should file for any prior year (prior to 2001 that is) even though you will not get your money back if they owe you, it's too late.

file 02 & 03 asap as well.

[Snipes5]

If you are owed a refund there are no penalties for late filing, only interest which will be paid to you because you got your refund "late".

Snipes

[maximusfl]

Thanks a lot, and i was hoping it would be snipe that would answer me cause from other posts, you looked like you actually knew what you were talking about. I am going to wait as long as possible before next friday to file so i dont have to guess (since i have no idea) but if i dont have those doc's by then, i will file and just hope i am guessing right, i had heard that this was my deadline for getting money from back years. From what im reading there dosent sound like there is a penalty for filing late (years later) if they owed you money. is this going to be something that HR block can handle? i have heard not much good or bad either way about them, so hopefully they do ok.

[tdavidl]

snipes5

you da ...... person (don't know if your male or female )

[Snipes5]

Yes, I assure you that H&R Block can handle it, but don't wait until the end of next week to go in, they will be upset with you. They will be VERY BUSY next week!

Go in now and get the thing started with a substitute W-2 form. They will have this available on their system.

Snipes