<prompt> Human: I currently now have all my relevant paperwork to file, and why I didnt is irrelevant. My main concern is my fear of jail time. Before penalties, which I assume will be tacked on once they receive everything, I probably owe around 5000. I plan on contacting the IRS once my separate filings from the last 7 years have been received by them, in order to work out a payment plan. Im sending all my returns without payment, because I dont have it. My main questions are:1Is there a better way for me to go about this?2Should I be afraid of getting sentenced to prison?3Should I send any cover letter or any additional form or statement with all of the returns I am sending, explaining I intend on paying in payments, but currently cant now?  <response>: You should probably contact a tax attorney before you submit information. They will be able to explain the difference between intentional misrepresentations and accidental misrepresentations - and how much worse the penalties are if someone finds your failure to file to be intentional misconduct. An attorney will also be able to verify what the minimum income amount was to file. If you made below that amount in any years between now and then, you might be okay. 