Since 2002, after a huge company layoff, I have been alternating between unemployment and underemployment. I have been moving in and out of the country and states too frequently, so I lost tracks of all the companies I had worked in and my W2's. I have not filed any tax return since 2002. Right now, I want to catch up with my tax returns for 2002, 2003, and 2004. I am not even sure if I filed my tax for 2001.

So, how can I find out my tax situation? Should I call up the IRS? Where can I get old tax forms? Where can I get all my old W2's?

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!
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If your old compaines are still in extistence you can call them for copies of your previous w-2's. Otherwise you can visit your local IRS Branch and they should be able to retireve copies of your W-2's for you.

As far as contacting the IRS in regards to filing your taxes for the past years, I believe if you do not owe you are ok( I had a friend who did this recently for the past 2 years,she did not owe anything so she was ok and received her refunds). HOWEVER if it is found that you owe the IRS, than penaliteds will be assessed for late filing.


HTH and good luck.

Without having any records you are pretty much up to the mercy of the KGB. File your 2005 taxes per normal, if you owe them money for previous years they will tell you. It may not be a bad idea to pile up as much cash as possible so you can write the check when they come knockin'

^ Thanks for the advice.

I see your credit scores at the three bureaus. I assume you have just gotten out of some past credit issues and are showing us the results of your works. How did you do it? Do you have a thread that discusses the ways of dealing with debt collectors or bureaus to remove negative items and boost credit scores? I am also dealing with some credit headaches of my own.

In my personal experience, you may want to contact the IRS even if you do owe. I did not file for a couple of years, and they were a few months away from "filing for me", which is not a good thing and can lead to levies, etc. By contacting them, I was able to get records my income for those years and establish a payment plan to pay off the amount, all within the good graces of the IRS. Had I let it go a little longer, I would not have been treated as well. If you owe them money, they already know it, and will come knocking sooner or later. In my opinion it's better to be proactive in this situation.

You can download and print previous year tax forms for the IRS website at www.irs.gov look under forms & publications and then look for the year and tax form you need

I have had many dealing with the IRS in the past year, and most of the experiences have been pleasent. They just need to know that you want to do the right thing and pay your obligation. They have been open and honest with my wife and myself and have always worked with us and given us all our options. Call them and let them know your situation. They will get you all the info you need and you can then go from there. Give them a time frame for getting your taxes filled out and notify them if there are any delays. Communication is the key.

Actually not quite. I've never done anything proactive to change my credit score, my "formula" was borrow when I felt like it and simply pay the bill on time. Right now I have 2 things on my CRA, a Mortgage and a CC I PIF every month. Having a good FICO score wasn't nearly as sweet as paying off ALL of our consumer debt and switching to a "save up and buy it" instead of a "buy it then pay for it" lifestyle.
DW's credit is another story, it's a mess we haven't even begun to look at. All of her "baddies" are 4+ years old (before we met) and we were planning on just letting them drop off over the next 3 years. She's a "authorized user" in "my" credit card (we keep all our money together so it doesn't matter what is who's) so that should help some. It's not like we plan on borrowing again anyways, except for maybe a new house. As liberal as lenders are on giving out loans, we won't need her income to qualify for any reasonable house anyways.