What should I do about years of unfiled tax returns?

File them: the IRS's stated enforcement practice generally looks for the last six years. Until a return is filed, the assessment clock never starts (26 U.S.C. § 6501(c)(3)), and the IRS can create a substitute return with no deductions, credits, or favorable filing status (26 U.S.C. § 6020(b)).

Non-filing leaves the years open forever: no return, no limitations period (26 U.S.C. § 6501(c)(3)), and invites the worst version of the math: a substitute for return under 26 U.S.C. § 6020(b), built from third-party income reports with single or separate filing status and no deductions, credits, or basis, producing an inflated assessment the FTB then mirrors with its own estimate. The repair sequence is standard. Order wage-and-income transcripts to reconstruct each year, prepare accurate original returns (which replace substitute assessments), and file, enforcement practice generally focuses on the most recent six years. Refund years are bittersweet: refunds survive only within the window of 26 U.S.C. § 6511, after which they are forfeited. Coming forward before the government makes contact matters criminally too; willful failure to file is a misdemeanor (26 U.S.C. § 7203), and voluntary compliance supports penalty relief for reasonable cause. Filing also unlocks collection resolutions, since current compliance is a prerequisite for installment agreements and offers in compromise.

Authority: 26 U.S.C. § 6501(c)(3)