Accepted Answer

Hello again srh,

Thank you for the clarification.

First of all, try not to worry about this resulting in you going to jail. That is not likely to happen unless you owe thousands and thousands of dollars to the IRS or have filed totally fraudulent returns. The IRS has had a long standing practice of not prosecuting taxpayers who show a willingness to straighten out their tax obligations.

Now as far as your current situation, if you owe taxes to the IRS for prior years and you also need to file personal and business taxes for the last couple of years, my advice to you would be to seek the help of an Enrolled Agent.

An Enrolled Agent is not actually a tax attorney, but they are licensed by the IRS to represent taxpayers in all matters concerning their tax bills, and they are very knowledgeable in all aspects of the tax laws. An EA would be able to help you with your negotiations and with the filing of your returns. An EA would also be much more affordable than using a tax attorney, but at the same time could offer you much more tax guidance than simply using a tax preparer to prepare your returns. And you really should stay away from the firms that advertise they can settle your tax debt for pennies on the dollar, because in 99% of the cases that is just a waste of your time and money.

I am giving you a link below to the website for the Nat'l Assoc of Enrolled Agents. You can click on the link on the left hand side of the page to find an EA in your area. I would suggest finding one or two EA's in your area, and giving them a call to discuss your situation. They will then be able to give you an idea of what services they can offer to help you.

http://www.naea.org/MemberPortal/

If this was helpful please press the Accept button.

Thank you srh and let me know if you have more questions.

Expert:	Merlo
Pos. Feedback:	99.8 %
Accepts:
Answered:	9/16/2009

Accountant

25+ years tax consulting. Specializing in returns for US citizens living abroad