I filed my taxes late a few times, I am not delinquent on any taxes. I answered this question honestly on my sf86 but now I am worried
Don’t be too worried. What was your reason for filing late? Is it likely to happen again? If you’re not delinquent on any federal debt you’ll be fine. Filing late is better than not filing at all
When you filed late . . . How late? Did you owe taxes or get a refund?
In any case, it’s not likely to even come up unless there has been a serious IRS issue.
It’s happened a few times. I never owed money. One your my aunt was dying of cancer and the other times my brother was going through a nasty divorce and custody case . The investigator asked me for a release to view my state and federal tax returns. I quickly complied with their request
I usually filed late in the same year in which they were due
I got refunds each time
Yeah . . . None of that should matter . . .
As long as you fixed it and remain fixed, not an issue. I too filed late, and fought the IRS for 18 months over spousal support vs financial settlement. It gets scary to fight on taxes but keep up, pay when due and you will be fine.
I hope so. Hopefully I’m freaking out over nothing
I’m still really scared. Below is a full account of what happened
I was late filing taxes the past 3 years. I filed during the same year ithe tax was due. I owe no state or federal tax debt. Previously I was always on time with my returns. The only excuse I have is that my brother was going through a nasty divorce/ custody battle. I took care of all this before I was required to fill out an sf86 for my clearance renewal. I was honest on my sf 86 and I’ve been asked to provide waivers for access to my tax returns. I immediately complied with the request. I’m now terribly worried. Should I be or am I freaking out over a minor issue
The question reads, “In the past seven (7) years have you failed to file or pay Federal, state, or other taxes when required by law or ordinance?”
If you were required to file because you didn’t meet any of the requirements to not file then that question should have been answered in the affirmative. Whether you got a refund or not does not matter. IRS still requires you to file. The reason for this goes to the root of following orders/instructions. It might raise a red flag.
That being said, make sure you correct the record when you talk to an investigator and they may ask why you said no and then you can explain it like you did here. Explain it as you understood it differently back then and then would like to set the record straight.
I doubt that would hold you back though. They are going to be more concerned with people who owed and didn’t file.
I did answer in the affirmative. I filed every year I was just late. This happened because I was helping my brother through a nasty divorce/custody battle. The stress of it took over my life. He just recently got sole physical and legal custody, so I won’t be involved with his issues. This is the worst thing I’ve done. I have no financial issues, excellent credit and my only debt is my car. I had one mistake on a previous on a tax return was corrected last year and I paid the debt immediately. The last three years were the problem years before that I was always on time. I’m just really scared and I hope it doesn’t torpedo my career.
To clarify the tax mistake was on my state taxes. I put the wrong amount, 6000 instead of 3200 . I paid the tax immediately when notified of the mistake last year. It’s the only mistake I’ve ever made on my taxes. I now use turbo tax
Stop worrying . . . The IRS doesn’t care when you file unless you owe them money. This is a non-issue.
As long as my problem doesn’t bother the investigator or pose a problem with the adjudication of my clearance then, I agree to relax. So what your saying is that it’s not a dealbreaker as far as the clearance is concerned
It’s not a big deal. You didn’t owe. It’s more administrative that you didn’t file for a refund.
Again, if you are caught up…no worries. It is not unusual in the slightest for life events to get in the way of routine filings. Now if you did not file to deprive the government of money…then you have a different issue. I have been late on a filing or two myself, paid a small penalty tax wise and moved on. Nothing more than oversight on my part, no malice. I have great credit as well and sometimes a bil goes to collection. I pay it, no worries. It happens.
Still nervous, I looked over all of my tax returns for the last several years and I don’t like what I found.
2017 Fed- filed 6/4/18 refund $2, VA State- filed 6/4/18 owe $8, paid that day online
2016 Fed- filed 12/11/17 refund $752 VA State- Filed 12/11/17 refund $161
2015 Fed- filed 5/21/16 refund $5.13 VA State- filed 5/21/16 $8 owe, paid
2014 Fed- filed 5/3/15 refund $4.92 VA State- filed 5/3/15 $0 (note this was the one where I made a mistake and paid the $208.75 when i received the assessment
2013 Fed- filed 4/14/14 refund $45.37 VA State- filed 11/29/14 $0
2012 Fed- filed 4/15/13 owed $2.01 VA State- Filed (unknown, didn’t copy signed return) owe $5. I paid it. I assume i filed at around the same time since I do them together. At least most of the time.
OK . . . Be nervous all that you want but this isn’t even going to be a blip. You have filed and you have no balance on your federal or state bill. If this is the only thing you are worried about you will have a pretty easy time.
Being caught up is key…but I recommend changing your tax filing clock to get them all filed on time these next few years.
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