When a 98-Year-Old Man Stops Filing Tax Returns

[DBinSV]

Those of you with an elderly parent will probably be able to relate to this.

I recently discovered that my father, 98, has not filed tax returns for the past three years. Not because he is deliberately evading his obligation. He has just been steadily unable to keep up with things. But he is mentally competent enough to fend off any actions to give one of his children the ability to administer his affairs.

His pension is approximately $50K annually and his annual Social Security benefits are about $5K. His convalescent home fees consume most of his earnings. He has very little by way of savings and material assets. I have been trying to get him to file but he seems incapable of gathering the required documentation.

I am aware that there is no age limit for the requirement to file taxes and I am aware that no one is waived of the obligation to file returns as long as income exceeds a certain minimal level, as is the case for my father.

What I am wondering is, what at this time is the likelihood/probability of the IRS coming after someone in my father’s situation and freezing his bank account?

 

[LdiJ]

Those of you with an elderly parent will probably be able to relate to this.

I recently discovered that my father, 98, has not filed tax returns for the past three years. Not because he is deliberately evading his obligation. He has just been steadily unable to keep up with things. But he is mentally competent enough to fend off any actions to give one of his children the ability to administer his affairs.

His pension is approximately $50K annually and his annual Social Security benefits are about $5K. His convalescent home fees consume most of his earnings. He has very little by way of savings and material assets. I have been trying to get him to file but he seems incapable of gathering the required documentation.

I am aware that there is no age limit for the requirement to file taxes and I am aware that no one is waived of the obligation to file returns as long as income exceeds a certain minimal level, as is the case for my father.

What I am wondering is, what at this time is the likelihood/probability of the IRS coming after someone in my father’s situation and freezing his bank account?

Do you have any idea of whether or not there is any withholding coming from his pension?...and if so, how much?

If he has enough withholding coming out that normally he had a refund or only a very small balance due then while he is definitely supposed to file, its not a total disaster if he hasn't. His ability to get the refund for any given year will expire after three years, and the IRS is likely to just let that happen.

If he would owe any appreciable amount, that is when it would get sticky with the IRS and where eventual levies might happen if correspondence from them is ignored for long enough.

I am guessing that since he is 98 years old and has been on a fixed income for 30 or more years, that he probably has sufficient withholding coming out of his pension. However that is just a guess. Someone is going to have to find out so it can be dealt with now, or the executor of his estate will have to deal with it when he passes away...and that's more complicated.

If you can convince him to give you a power of attorney JUST for the purposes of dealing with the IRS then you could order income transcripts for him that could then be used to prepare the returns.

 

[adjusterjack]

What I am wondering is, what at this time is the likelihood/probability of the IRS coming after someone in my father’s situation and freezing his bank account?

Brief explanation:

https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/what-is-a-levy

Comprehensive explanation:

https://www.irs.gov/irm/part5/irm_05-011-004