Posted on 04/20/2025 4:55:24 AM PDT by where's_the_Outrage?
Tax season can be a bit stressful for many Americans, but for those with unfiled returns or back taxes, the stress levels can be overwhelming. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is one of the most powerful collection agencies in the country and it has considerable power to pursue any unpaid taxes you owe. The agency also has a long memory when it comes to collecting what it's owed.
That said, the IRS can't come after you for your old tax debts indefinitely. Most debts have statutes of limitations that eventually render them uncollectible — and the same is true for your tax debts. The IRS operates under its own set of rules, though, and the timeline for tax collection is more complex than many realize....
The IRS generally has a 10-year statute of limitations for collecting taxes. This period begins on the date of assessment, which typically occurs when you file your return or when the IRS creates a substitute return on your behalf. After this 10-year period expires, the IRS can no longer legally collect that tax debt.....
If you never filed a return for a particular year, though, there is actually no statute of limitations. The IRS can come after you for those unfiled years indefinitely. This makes non-filing a particularly risky route to take. There is also no time limit in cases of fraud or tax evasion. If the IRS can prove fraudulent intent, they can pursue collection regardless of how much time has passed.
Several actions can also extend or "toll" the 10-year collection period, including:
Filing for bankruptcy
Submitting an Offer in Compromise
Requesting a collection due process hearing
Living outside the United States for an extended period
Signing a waiver to extend the collection period
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
For some reason, I thought you returned to the USA?
The answer to that is at least 200 years.
In an age where people not even born yet collect social security, surely the IRS can also claim you owe money from before you were born.
I have in 2018 after 7 years abroad. Planning on moving back to Thailand but am waiting for the daughter to turn 16 so she can pass US Citizenship onto any children she may have. Otherwise I’d be gone.
There are a few crimes with no statute of limitation, murder, kidnapping, treason, and defrauding the IRS.
IOW, if they claim a tax return has deliberate fraudulent information they can come after you no matter how long ago it was filed.
Hmmmm - I was always under the impression one needed to keep the last 7 years of tax returns - with any pertinent documentation - but, with folks who haven’t been born yet collecting Social Security, and them wanting to know if you make a transaction of $600 or more, I’d guess they have zero actual time limits - I heard they may go after Paul Revere because he borrowed the horse he rode and never claimed the value of that freebie on any returns...
Not automatically a US citizen?
Back in the 80’s I got a bill letter saying I owed $3500 in back taxes from a Job I had nearly ten years previous.
It contained all kinds of threats if I didn’t pay up immediately.
It turned out that it was supposed to be $3.50 because a person in Payroll at my former employer left of the decimal on their report to the IRS..............
You (and this applied to me also, US Born Citizen of US Citizens) that in order to be able to pass on US Citizenship to your children, you must have lived in the USA for 5 years, 2 of which have to over the age of 14. Hence I have to wait for the daughter to turn 16 here in the USA.
The daughter was born in Thailand, and I had to meet that requirement at the US Embassy to get her US Citizenship. Even had to do a DNA test to prove I was the biological father.
However if YOU overlook a tax deduction in your benefit you only have a few years to correct it (2 or 3 years, I think). Seems unfair.
That’s how Capone went to jail…
Handy thing, having 87,000 armed IRS agents, eh?
Hope you kept up with your FBAR filings
I have only kept about $1000 in the accounts since I moved so I’m not required to file (under $10K).
But while I was living there I did.
Damn strange article given it’s from CBS: I didn’t see a single “Let’s Hate Trump” sentence.
I’ve looked into Chiang Mai.
By any chance, is that where you lived, or is there a better option?
I thought it was seven years.
We save everything anyways.
I DO NOT trust the government.
They should go after illegals with such diligence.
If you don’t mind saying: Why did you leave? Because you married a foreign lady?
I was audited in 2019 for my 2017 tax return. They examined everything back to 2010 to make sure that my “cost basis” was correct. They did not adjust my liability further back than 2017...but the changes made were applied to every return up to 2023 (when it finally ended.)
The Commonwealth of MA just came at me for the same thing in 2017. Their policy is not to go back further than 7 years. Unless it’s “meaningful.” I guess that means if you owe THEM money. They were not about to open the subsequent filings where they owed ME money.
I spent four years going back and forth with the IRS. They were always pleasant and professional. I actually won a few rounds.
I called the state DOR and the person I spoke with was such a dolt that I just wrote the check. In that case I could tell it would be another four year adventure and I simply did not have any fight left in me for a minimal outlay of cash.
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