USA Back Tax

[schefkw]

Not sure if this is right form of not,I have been living in Thailand four years come Jan 2019. I just received a notice from the IRS in the USA requesting my 2016 tax statement.when I arrived here Jan 2015 I filed for that year but have not filed since that time. I want to take care of this and need advice I am also scared to death of the IRS.

Any advice from others who have been in a similar situation would be much appreciated, please  I need advice of what to do not what I should have done.

Thank you

Edited September 1, 2018 by ubonjoe
edited title to show which country

[ubonjoe]

Moved to here.

[NCC1701A]

get a accountant to help you. you are only two years behind. file your taxes. tell the truth. pay the penalty and interest. report all your bank accounts in Thailand.

[GinBoy2]

Well depending on what your income for those years was, it's probably not as terrible as you think. Now 'if' you really didn't have any income to speak of, then you wouldn't even need to file, but even in years when my income fell below the threshold I always filed, it seems to keep the IRS happier if you do that, and if you're trying to carry over any capital loss for future years, which was my case, if you don't file that disappears.

Again, big if, but if you have Thai bank accounts, make sure you file your fbar. That actually is probably a bigger red flag than not filing a 1040, since in their minds that means some kind of criminality 

[UncleTouchyFingers]

I failed to file for like 4 full years at one point in my early 20s and was getting all kinds of threatening letters from the IRS sent to my parents. Luckily I was out of the USA for that whole time so I got the physical presence test exemption for all of those years. 

 

Hired a CPA in the states to take care of all of it and I think I only paid an $800 penalty plus CPA fees. 

 

Easy problem to fix man you just need to contact any old CPA that's familiar with the physical presence test exemption\foreign earned income exclusions. 

 

Basic CPA fee for a basic tax return is like $200 for a single year and I'm pretty sure that if you file the tax return and don't owe anything, you do t have to pay a penalty. 

 

[moontang]

California is who you gotta look out for.  For IRS..File for that year, send them a copy....only if you owed, would there be a problem.  First time offenders can get off pretty easy, but ignoring the notices is worse.

[ballbreaker]

As other have said it should not be a big problem just do the filings and pay all the interest and penalties.  If will become a problem if you ignore their request.

 

If you completed your 2015 return you should have no problem generating the returns for years you have not filed.

 

You can obtain TaxAct software for the previous 4-5 years online.  I think its also calculates the interest and penalties you might owe.  It will cost for each year you download.

 

Make sure you have done the FBAR filing if your foreign bank account total hits the trigger point for filing.  Its required every year if you meet the requirement and is done online.  Its a Treasury Department requirement.