In preparing this year’s taxes, I remembered that I had not filed in 2006. Found the form, now for the life of me I cannot find how to actually file them (preferably online). I don’t owe money, so there’s not a huge rush, but I believe there is a 3 year time limit on getting the money back from the government (I would assume that the 2006 return would be due sometime next year, at least I hope so). Any help would be appreciated.
You can’t file a tax return online after the deadline for extensions (Oct 15th) has passed. For a 2006 return, you’ll have to fill out the forms and mail them the old-fashioned way.
If you need more forms, instructions, etc, you can download them in PDF format from IRS.gov.
You’re right about the three year limit. Your 2006 return will be eligible for refunds until Apr 15 2010 based on what you’ve told us in your post.
Question since you seem well informed. If I didn’t file my 2007 return and do so now, would I also be entitled to the stimulus check that was issued? (I did an extension, found I was due a small refund and completely forgot this past October)
Additionally, will there be a penalty or repercussions if I never file that paperwork?
If you did not file in 2006, that means you didn’t file your return **for ** 2005. If you’re owed any refund, you have until Wednesday to file or you forfeit the refund as there’s a 3-year limit.
A 2006 return was due on April 15, 2007 - it’s not due some time next year.
If you owe money from that far back, you’re in deep doo-doo and might want to consider moving to Canada as penalties for not filing can be stiff. If the IRS is really peeved at you, they can file criminal charges against you in court. If you don’t owe taxes, there’s no penalty for failure to pay, but failure to file is still hanging out there.
I realize this is a rotten time of year to do so, but to get those 2005 or 2006 taxes filed, you may need to bring your records to the local IRS field office as you won’t be able to do this online. You can also try calling them at 1-800-829-1040, but that line is going to be busy, and they may still tell you to come in. The office location link also leads to local office phone numbers that may or may not be easier to reach a human.
The stimulus check was only available for people who filed on time (up to the extension date). However, you can still get the Recover Rebate Credit based on 2008 numbers. The RRC is like the “other half” of the stimulus - it’s calculated the same way and reduced by any ESP received from 2007. In your case, the ESP received is 0.
Re: gotpasswords: Good point. I assumed that “in 2006” meant the return for the 2006 tax year. On the other hand, I think you’re overplaying the seriousness of it. Late-filing penalties are capped at 25%, interest is only 0.5% per month, and neither of those apply if a refund was due. (Which is not to say the OP shouldn’t try to get this taken care of ASAP, just that it is not the end of the world for most people).
Yeah, you had until October 15, 2008 to file to get the rebate stimulus check.
And as long as you have all your records & your taxes are fairly simple, I don’t see any reason why you have to visit the IRS field office. Just print up the forms (avail. on the IRS website), fill them out, and mail them in.
And if you had a refund due to you in all those years, it is very unlikely that the IRS will go after you for failure to file. After all, the gov’t got to use your money for the last few years…
A guy on my building floor is wondering whether one can still get the current stimulus, which is based on including Supplemental-Only people like him as well as those folks receiving Disability as well or Disability alone.
(… As was the case last year with 2008 filing for the year 2007. That is, people who were not considered officially “disabled” and received only Supplemental would have little or no reason to file-- except for those positioned to get Earned Income Credit.)
So, what is the answer here?
- Jack
I just wanted to add that the Failure to File penalty is based on any tax due. So, if you don’t owe tax there is no interest, Failure to Pay, or Failure to File penalties. That is not true for some states, CA for example assesses a Failure to File penalty even if you don’t owe.