Unfiled returns and back taxes — getting current without panic

What usually happens first

If enough years pass, the IRS may file a substitute for return on your behalf. It uses the income reported by third parties, allows no deductions you have not claimed, and assumes the least favorable filing status. The resulting balance is almost always higher than a correctly prepared return would have produced — and it starts collection running.

The sequence we use

1. 1Pull your transcripts. Wage and income transcripts show what the IRS already knows about each year, which is usually more than you have records for.
2. 2Establish how many years need filing. It is often fewer than people assume.
3. 3Reconstruct income and expenses for each open year, using transcripts, bank records and whatever documentation survives.
4. 4File in chronological order, so carryforwards, NOLs and prior-year figures flow correctly.
5. 5Address the balance — payment plan, penalty abatement, or a collection alternative, depending on the numbers.

Oregon does not go away either

Oregon runs its own assessment and collection process, and the Oregon Department of Revenue is often quicker to act than the IRS on a state balance. Portland-area local taxes — Metro SHS, Multnomah PFA, the Arts Tax — have their own histories of unfiled years and their own penalty structures. We deal with all three layers, not just the federal one.