# I didnt file a tax return in 2003. Should I now, and what if I dont?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 19, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692 "2010-08-19T01:55:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2010, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/21 "2010-08-20T04:42:45Z")
See a tax attorney.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/22 "2010-08-20T05:04:28Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#):
>
> See a tax attorney.
For a 1040 EZ where he had no liability? :dubious: Now, talking to a _tax pro_, sure. But that’s a couple hundred not a couple thousand.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/23 "2010-08-20T06:02:12Z")
> [@qazwart](#):
>
> You could be charged criminally with failing to file, but it appears that the statue of limitations on that is six years.
I’m 99% sure that you can only be charged with failure to file if you actually owe something. (And as a criminal matter it has to be a significant amount; the IRS has civil options available to them for lesser amounts.)
In any case, the IRS always tries to remedy things via Strongly Worded Letters before going as far as prosecuting a criminal case.
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### Author:  [@TKramar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TKramar)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/24 "2010-08-20T12:05:23Z")
1. It’s too late to file. The posters who have mentioned the three year limit are correct.
2. You would have to have the tax forms from that year TO file. The amount of personal exemption and standard deduction changes every year, and the amount of tax versus your taxable income also changes every year
3. Either way, it’s immaterial–if you are certain you would have gotten a refund if you HAD filed.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/25 "2010-08-20T15:14:55Z")
> [@TKramar](#):
>
> 1. It’s too late to file. The posters who have mentioned the three year limit are correct.
This is not true. Where are you getting this information? The three year rule applies to claiming a refund. It’s too late for the OP to claim a refund. It is never too late to file. The three years also applies to the time the IRS has to audit you, but the clock starts ticking from _the day you file_, not from the calendar year of the tax return.
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### Author:  [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)
#### Post date: [August 20, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/26 "2010-08-20T15:35:24Z")
> [@TKramar](#):
>
> 1. It’s too late to file. The posters who have mentioned the three year limit are correct.
>
> 2. You would have to have the tax forms from that year TO file. The amount of personal exemption and standard deduction changes every year, and the amount of tax versus your taxable income also changes every year
>
> 3. Either way, it’s immaterial–if you are certain you would have gotten a refund if you HAD filed.
Old tax forms and tax tables aren’t very hard to get. You can download them now straight from the IRS. Back in the dark ages, you had to go to a public library, and sometimes even talk to the librarians.
You have a legal obligation to file taxes even if you don’t owe anything. Having not owed anything and not having filed taxes is a little like going 3 miles over the speed limit - chances are pretty good you aren’t going to get into trouble for it, but you ARE breaking the law and therefore ARE taking the risk that at some point in the future someone will be a jerk about it.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/27 "2010-08-21T01:13:45Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> I’m 99% sure that you can only be charged with failure to file if you actually owe something. (And as a criminal matter it has to be a significant amount; the IRS has civil options available to them for lesser amounts.)
>
> In any case, the IRS always tries to remedy things via Strongly Worded Letters before going as far as prosecuting a criminal case.
Both true. Note that again, in the case of Drug Lords, Mafia Dons or Tax Protestor leaders, they might prosecute even if the tax issue appears to be minor.
Dangerosa is correct. Might as well file, and her analogy with the speed limit is about right.
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### Author:  [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/28 "2010-08-21T05:54:30Z")
> [@TKramar](#):
>
> 1. You would have to have the tax forms from that year TO file. The amount of personal exemption and standard deduction changes every year, and the amount of tax versus your taxable income also changes every year
All the information is available on the IRS website. I don’t know how far back forms are available, but 2003 is definitely there. I filed my 2003 taxes this past November (I was very bad about such things for a while, the IRS caught up to me. I would recommend avoiding that situation. Unlike the OP, I owed tons of money. The OP should have far less hassle than I had for that reason.)
I found it easier to use Google with “site:irs.gov” to find the forms I needed than to search the IRS website directly. The instructions booklets and tax tables are all there.
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### Author:  [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/29 "2010-08-21T17:22:14Z")
I filed a Tax Return a couple years late once–same sort of situation, a small refund was due–and they just sent me a check. Absolutely no hassle–it was like no one even noticed it was late. But it must have been less than 2 years.
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### Author:  [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/30 "2010-08-21T18:21:24Z")
Dumb foreigner question: If you are just a regular employee, with no other source of income, do you still have to file a tax return?
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-file-a-tax-return-in-2003-should-i-now-and-what-if-i-dont/550692/31 "2010-08-21T18:35:03Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#):
>
> Dumb foreigner question: If you are just a regular employee, with no other source of income, do you still have to file a tax return?
Yes. Mostly you _want to_, to get a refund. But you still have to, even though as we have discussed here- the likelyhood of penalties are very very small.
If you have very low income, you dont have to file. For most single taxpayers, that means under $8500 or so. It varies year to year a little.
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