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Comment by DanielBMarkham | Hacker News Reader

Similar spot here.

Note: be sure you file your taxes. You legally have to file, whether you can pay or not.

Once you file, after two years the debt can be part of a bankruptcy, but you have to keep filing.

As you know, this is a really sucky spot to be in. I believe the IRS has a program for people who have no chance of repaying -- not sure what the title is. It's worth looking into.

You did a brave thing coming online with this. I imagine a lot of folks would just call you names and be done with it. Speaking for other guys in the same situation, thank you.

Good luck!

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Is there a statute of limitations on not filing? E.g. if you forgot to file a decade ago, and nobody ever came after you, is it better to come clean or let sleeping dogs lie?

I don't think there is a statue of limitations for the debt, but there might be for failure to file each years. Best I understand it, they could throw you in jail for "hiding", but they can only come and take everything you own for filing but failing to pay.

The temptation here is to let sleeping dogs lie, but I think this just makes it worse. I imagine if you don't make a lot, it's probably not worth their time to chase you, but heck if I'd want to live with that constantly hanging over my head. It's bad enough owing money you can't pay.

ADD: For what it's worth, I have a sneaking suspicion that there are a ton of people in this situation.

There is a statute of limitations for the IRS to audit you on a properly filed return (3-6 years, depending on the specific return). However, there is no statute of limitations for imposing back taxes/penalties/interest on income that was never reported.

In some circumstances, this can even include later years in which a return was filed, if the unreported income affected the income, deductions, credits, losses, or other tax items in that later year. This is usually not an issue for individuals, as the problem usually arises from carried-over losses or credits that are generally available only to corporate entities.

A. I don't think so, and if there were it would be a very long time.

B. I don't think this is the thing the IRS forgets about anyway.

Why did I get a down vote for responding with the link that he was looking for???? http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Offer-in-Compromise-1

There is really no point in complaining about downvotes. Maybe someone misclicked.

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