Dear Tax Talk:
What do you do if you have not filed taxes in a while and want to get everything caught up but don't have your W-2s from previous jobs and don't recall exactly where you worked in the past?
-- Marc

Dear Marc,
The IRS wants to hear from you and will help you get on board. People fall out of the tax system every year -- some for better reasons than others. If you don't owe money, there's no penalty for filing late. You'll even get your refund if it is not more than three years old. If you owe money and have reasonable cause, penalties can be waived and a payment plan arranged. If you don't have reasonable cause for late filing, it's been my experience recently that the IRS will waive one year's worth of penalties.

If you owe money, and the IRS has received information from payers of income, you can bet that they'll eventually prepare a tax return on your behalf and bill and collect the taxes from you. Usually these returns aren't as favorable as if you voluntarily file.

Some people think that they will go to jail for late filing. The IRS has better use for its resources. From the IRS Web site:

"A long-standing practice of the IRS has been not to recommend criminal prosecution of individuals for failure to file tax returns, provided they voluntarily file, or make arrangements to file, before being notified they are under criminal investigation. The taxpayer must make an honest effort to file a correct return and have income from legal sources. A letter from the IRS concerning taxes is not a notice that a taxpayer is under criminal investigation. ... The IRS wants to get people back into the system, not prosecute ordinary people who made a mistake."

If your income is mostly from employment, an easy way to get your wages and taxes withheld is to ask the IRS. Use Form 4506-T to request a copy of a prior year's W-2 information by checking box 8. Although the form says to ask your prior employers for this information, if you can't remember all of them, the IRS has better records. On top of that, it's free, you can fax the request, and, based on experience, it will come sooner than the 45 days the form says to wait. It's a good New Year's resolution.

To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. Taxpayers should seek professional advice based on their particular circumstances.

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