Haven't paid taxes in 3 years, all my money was made through paypal, made over 120k in this time

haven't paid taxes in 3 years, all my money was made through paypal, made over 120k in this time

I simply couldn't be bothered to fill out the forms.

how fucked am I?

Other urls found in this thread:

irs.gov/uac/failure-to-file-or-pay-penalties-eight-facts
twitter.com/NSFWRedditImage

Go talk to the IRS before they come to you. Explain your situation and take the tax pain or jailtime up front. If they audit you, you are fucked, so you might as well go to them to save face. And if you wait too long, or try to put the money into a credit card, they'll call an audit and you are fucked.

not much.

does paypal even 1099 you?

anyways, if you give the IRS a call and talk about it you'll probably be fine. You're going to owe them money with interest and penalties piled on but they'll probably let you set up a payment plan.

or they'll toss you in federal pound me in the ass prison. Be polite.

regarding how much you'll owe, it depends if you have any expenses to write off, but I'd expect something like 40k just on regular income tax+self-employment tax.

contrary to popular belief, the IRS is actually pretty reasonable. I owed back taxes a couple years ago, and they worked with me throughout the whole process. I even negotiated and wound up paying about 1/3 of what they had first told me to pay.

paypal did 1099 me every year

but my question is, wouldn't I have heard something at this point if they were going to come after me?

this year I turned my paypal into a business account and opened a LLC and now they'll be reporting to my EIN-- THIS year I fully intend to pay taxes, but is there really any risk of them coming after me for 2012-2015?

>but my question is, wouldn't I have heard something at this point if they were going to come after me?
no, absolutely not.

it's not their job to remind you to follow the law, and if you hear from them they're already coming after you.

this is one of those things you might get away with for a while but they'll probably notice eventually.

when your return is missing or doesn't match a 1099 they've got computers pointing that out.

but it's been 3 years, what are they waiting for?

not looking for vague "oh it'll happen, but it might not" /x/ 2spooky stuff, looking for people who actually knows how the system works.

please no
>dude computers, lmao!
posts from this point forward.

They won't forget. And the longer you wait, the more interest they'll charge you.

I don't know how your local laws are. But where I live there are laws in place that people don't get penalized if they repent before the IRS finds out.

forget what?

how do they know?

like I said, these vague posts do nothing for me and you obviously have no idea about the system besides >dude government NSA fear!

you're an idiot. I just posted above about how the IRS got me for back taxes.

Just because they don't contact you immediately doesn't mean you're off the hook. I didn't pay taxes owed from 2013 and didn't hear from then until 2016. If you don't want our advice, fuck off.

I'm not going to accept shitty vague advice that doesn't give me any insight to the process or any incentive to file 3 year old tax returns

>dude back taxes lmao!!
you fuck off cunt

Maybe you should talk to a lawyer instead of posting on an online Mongolian goat trading messageboard. enjoy prison loser

I'm not American, but Dutch. And I studied taxes. And here if you get caught you would have to pay it back with interest, plus an up to 300% fine. They can cross reference money flows of corporations and banks that did file taxes (aka paypal and your bank account), as pretty much everyone has the obligation to give insight into their administration. And if the amount owed is above 150k then the prosecutors will also give the case a look and you could end up six years in prison.

But perhaps the USA is entirely different.

If that money hit a bank account with your name on it you could get hit. If it never touched a bank account I think you are good.

they have bigger fish to fry. Idk how much tax you were meant to pay but 40k in taxes or whatever is nothing. When they aren't going after big dogs they are probably just going to go after the next highest income person/highest in unpaid total tax on the list that dodged.

Considering you earned 40k a year, it's not especially high. I would seriously just go to them right now and sought something out.

actually, this. OP, go see a lawyer.

First (somewhat old) result in Google. They seem fairly lenient.

irs.gov/uac/failure-to-file-or-pay-penalties-eight-facts

The max intrest and penalties is 25% of the money owed so honestly since it wasn't much you didn't file, I'd keep trucking.

That's excluding any possible criminal sanction though.

Over some neets paypal activity? That's a big stretch.

If I read it correctly you can also get a penalty for not paying taxes on top of a penalty for not filing taxes. Which will also exceed that 25%.

Lots of IRS agents ITT

I'm just going to risk it and ignore these past 3 years for now.

I'm paying taxes from this year forward, I've become a legit LLC and project to be making 2x what I have in the past, so if they come after me I'll deal with it then. I'll probably discuss it with the tax guy I get to file for me early next year and see what he thinks.

I really don't want to deal with the headache of paperwork for old refunds now.

There's generally a six year look back period for audits on "substantial errors" (25%+ error) for federal taxes so until that's passed yeah they can audit you, you're facing a 25% penalty on underpaid tax if they audit you and get pissy. Oh and going forward you need to pay estimated tax quarterly on that business income or your'e going to get a penalty at the end of the year, most 1099 earners fuck that up.

>but it's been 3 years, what are they waiting for?

Thats not how it works at all. They arent monitering you every year. Every year you have a random chance of being selected for an audit, with the odds being affected by a large number of things (for instance, celebrities known to have a lot of money stand a much much much higher risk of an audit)

Since you are starting a new business, you are REALLY playing the odds. If you mess up how you file your taxes, youll get audited. If you claim any "suspicious deductions", you have a much higher chance of being audited.

Youre gambling, youre saying "I havent lost yet, why would I lose now?"

>refunds
It's only a refund if you overpaid. If you overpay they don't give a fuck. If you owe they will eventually find you and get their money.

mb meant RETURNS

>looking for people who actually knows how the system works.
I don't know how the system works.

I only have the account of my ex-wife who didn't file tax returns for four years because she was in business with her then-husband and they did a lot of cash business.

They got audited, she filed for divorce and said it was all him. He's still paying down his past taxes 6 years later and narrowly avoided jail time and having all his shit seized.

will that happen to you? I have no idea.
Personally I've found the IRS easy to deal with if you owe them money and actually work on paying it. Their interest rates are terrible though. You're better off borrowing the money against your house or whatever shit you might happen to have.

which I'm guessing isn't much.

cool story bro

You really are an asshole. I hope you get audited and shafted by the IRS.

almost as cool as admitting to felony tax evasion on a not-exactly anonymous Indonesian quilt making forum.

>Im arguing on an anonymous image board.

>felony tax evasion
I don't recall using illegal means to avoid paying taxes or misrepresenting my income, I'm simply a lazy faggot who didn't want to install turbo tax for 3 years and haven't filed anything with the IRS.

if they want it, they can come & get it

This thread is fucking hilarious. OP is literally a baby man child with no sense of responsibility.

>I don't recall using illegal means to avoid paying taxes

you KNOW that you owe taxes and you're willfully dodging them. thats tax evasion by definition you fucking retard. ignorance of the law or laziness are not valid defenses.

also - you're going to get nailed, the question is just to what extent. random cash income off the books for side jobs or tips is one thing, three years worth of 1099's on 120k income is another.

so you've got two scenarios here.

best case is they're going to wait until the end of the audit period to hit you with max interest and penalties.. and you'll deserve it for being an idiot.

worst case you'll be criminally charged with tax evasion and go to prison

>if they want it, they can come & get it
famous last words, user

>illegal means
like not filing a tax return or paying taxes when they're owed?

both of those would be illegal.

Fine, you fucking squares, I'll file all my old returns when I file for 2016 and get fucked of all my savings.

>but 40k in taxes or whatever is nothing
You couldn't be more wrong. This is a major unpaid deficit.

Generally, the IRS doesn't go back more than 6 years on a find. However, if they so choose to dig, there's no statute of limitations on your taxes. You go clean right now, ten years from now you catch an audit, you might get fucked for 15 years worth of interest and penalties.

I'd have to agree with everyone else here, call them up and explain. File, find out what you owe (if there is a debt,) and then set up a payment plan. You don't have to worry about jail unless it's significant and they determine that you have "deliberately and systematically attempted to deceive or defraud the US government." By going to them, you eliminate that "deliberate" part.

Anyway, good luck!

Fuck that. Get a good CPA (who also a tax attorney). Don't give all the info to irs up front. Do not self-incriminate.

It ceases to be a crime the instant he files his returns.

at that moment it's just a debt.

If the IRS catches him before he files it's a crime.

though talking to a lawyer rather than anons on Veeky Forums is always excellent advice.