Originally posted by: bigbangtech
Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Originally posted by: bigbangtech
If someone wants to get up to date with taxes, and paying them, the following questions are weighing on my mind with the April 15th deadline looming.
Let's say 3+ years of taxes not filed or paid due to barely scraping by.
All income from 1099-MISC, only last two years of 1099-MISC statements available
Need to pay estimated for 1/4 of 2008 by April 15th
What should be done first? File extension, then prepare all years and file them?
Or file for 2007 before April 15th, pay estimated for 2008 so far, then prepare missing years?
No judging please, just some advice to get current. I know it's going to take a lot of work to get current
Take care of the current year first. File 2007. Make payment for 2008. Download 1040 and Schedule C forms for 2004, 2005, 2006.
Start from 2004 and work forward.
When you work on any year, keep a sheet of paper handy to jot notes about this that you think may also affect the other years.
If thought relates to a previous year - do not go back to the previous year - continue with the current train of thought. When you finish that form for the year, then go back to the previous year and make the adjustment.
When preparing all the years, did
DEEPfor the expenses against the 1099 income.
I read in a post that it is possible to call the IRS and ask them which years are missing, and that they can provide "wage and income transcripts" for those years.
1) Is this basically asking the IRS for 1099's that they may have on file for those years? And is this prudent, should I go to my income sources and just ask for the old 1099's?
2) Since I will be filing 2007 first, should I pay estimated 2008 first, or 2007 first, or both, I may not be able to do both immediately.
3) Or should I pay 2008 estimated and wait for a bill after filing the other missing returns.
I understand this gets complex, but I wanted to get a better idea FIRST before going to a tax pro.