In order to get caught up with the tax returns that you have missed in prior years, you will need to get current by filing past year tax returns.

This process essentially involves the following : obtaining the old tax forms, gathering all the information, performing the tax calculations using the worksheets included with the tax forms, filling in the forms, verifying for accuracy and finally mailing the return.

It is definitely vital that you get these done in time particularly if you foresee financial changes in your life.A new home is a good example. If you need a mortgage loan or a business loan,a tax return will be one of the important documents that is taken by the financial institution to evaluate you.

One concern that gets usually asked is “Will I get a refund for a past year if I file the past year tax return now ?”

The answer is “It depends !”..

The tax return has to be filed within 3 years of its original due date. So why within three years ? After the 3 years are over, your refund is gets forfeited.

Our experience shows that when an individual thinks that they will owe money to the Internal revenue service, they will shy away from submitting their tax returns. There are instances where tax returns haven’t been filed for many, many years.

Can you Eifile the past year tax return ?
The simple answer is NO.

IRS needs you to manually send the tax return. Keep in mind the distinction between on-line filing and e-filing. When you prepare the tax return using an on-line tax website – you are essentially doing an online tax filing.

What forms do you need in order to to file a past year tax return ?
You would need the particular tax forms from the actual previous year to prepare the tax return. These are readily available on the IRS site.

Is there software available that will do a past year tax return ?
The most people are stuck with making use of an older edition of tax software. That is if you can find it. You will be lucky to find this software, since most software manufacturers only support their software program for a specific number of years. It is not economical for their company to support software for which there are very few takers. One place you can try for old software is auction sites. Again, you really need to know your stuff when you do this. For instance older software needs older computers to operate.

What is the difference between on-line filing and e-filing ?
With an e-file, however, the information included on your tax return is delivered to the IRS electronically and you do not have to postal mail in your tax return.

When a tax software company uses the internet for people to use the software its called online tax preparation. But remember for past years tax returns, IRS will not allow e-filing, so irrespective of how you prepare that return, you will still need to mail it in.

Here are a few online tax vendors that do provide past year tax filing on their website :
http://www.tax-easy.com/past-year-tax

Author Bio: Author: RonRobson for Tax-Easy.com. Visit his site to learn everything about back taxes and filing past year tax returns.

Category: Finances
Keywords: past year tax, past year tax returns, past year taxes, past years taxes