One Step Ahead
Back Taxes, Unfiled and Late Filing Resolution
Falling behind on tax filings rarely happens the way people assume. In most of the situations we see, nothing was hidden and nothing was intentional. A business grew faster than its bookkeeping. A liquidity event produced a balance no one had planned for. An extension was filed and then the return was never completed. A prior preparer stopped responding. One missed year became three.
What changes the situation is not the original miss. It is the fact that unaddressed delinquency compounds along several tracks at once — penalties, interest, collection authority, and, eventually, the loss of choices that were available earlier.
Back tax resolution is the process of bringing unfiled returns current, establishing the correct amount actually owed, addressing penalties where grounds exist, and resolving the balance through a payment arrangement the IRS will accept. It is handled most effectively before the IRS files returns on your behalf or begins enforced collection, because both narrow the options available.
360 Tax Resolution Strategy
The Four Situations We Resolve
Most back-tax files fall into one of four patterns. Each is handled differently.
Notices, liens, and levies.
When the filing is behind, the first task is establishing where you actually stand
Falling behind rarely happens the way people assume. A business grows faster than its bookkeeping. A liquidity event produces a balance no one planned for. An extension is filed and the return is never completed. A prior preparer stops responding. One missed year becomes three.
What changes the situation is not the original miss. It is that unaddressed delinquency compounds along several tracks at once — penalties, interest, collection authority, and eventually the loss of options that were available earlier. Lakeline Tax begins these engagements with IRS transcripts rather than tax preparation, because scope should be determined from the record rather than assumed.
three steps to success
We Will Help You Every Step Of The Way
Handled with the same discretion as every other engagement at the firm, and by an Enrolled Agent authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS.
A file can contain all three across different years. Sequencing the work correctly is most of the job.
01
Unfiled returns.
No return was submitted for one or more years. There is no statute of limitations on assessment for a year in which no return was filed — under IRC §6501(c)(3), the assessment period never begins to run. That year stays open indefinitely.
02
An assessed balance.
Returns were filed, but tax remains unpaid. Here the collection statute does run: the IRS generally has ten years from assessment to collect, under IRC §6502.
03
Enforced collection.
The balance has moved into active collection — a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, a levy, wage garnishment, or certification of the debt to the State Department.
we will assist you in any issue and conflict
The failure-to-file penalty runs at ten times the failure-to-pay penalty. Filing a return you cannot yet pay is materially better than filing nothing.
And refunds expire. Under IRC §6511, a refund claim generally must be filed within three years of the return’s due date. Late filers who were owed money — which happens more often than expected where withholding on equity compensation was substantial — forfeit it permanently once that window closes.
Lakeline Tax provides tax preparation services for all Americans including Self-Employed Tax Returns, Individual Tax Preparation, Partnership & Corporate Taxes, Bookkeeping, Tax Planning, and Tax Resolution, serving Austin, Cedar Park, George Town, Leander, Liberty Hill, Round Rock and surrounding cities, along with all 50 states. We utilize QuickBooks and are certified QuickBooks ProAdvisors. Get more done with us.
We have lots of experience
Case Studies
What Is an IRS Substitute for Return?
What Is an IRS Substitute for Return? By Senior Tax Advisor & Enrolled Agent, Lakeline Tax The letter arrives with a number on it, and
How Many Years of Back Taxes Do I Have to File?
How Many Years of Back Taxes Do I Have to File? By Senior Tax Advisor & Enrolled Agent, Lakeline Tax Almost everyone who asks this
Representation Authority
Lakshmi Ramkumar is an Enrolled Agent, authorized to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service in all administrative matters, including collection and examination. Representation is established by Form 2848, Power of Attorney, which allows IRS correspondence and contact to be directed to the representative.
Lakeline Tax provides tax representation. We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Where a matter involves potential criminal exposure, bankruptcy, or litigation, we will say so directly and coordinate with counsel.