<prompt> Human: I dont know where to begin with this mess. I guess Ill just have to pick a point.-My boyfriend hasnt filed taxes since 2009. He was audited in 2007 and owes 3979.60 from that. Looking at his W-2s from this year his income looks as follows:-XJob 1Job 2Job 3:--:--:--:--Wages37516494865453Fed Tax82005776995Soc Sec Wages37516494865453Soc Sec Tax23263068338Medicare wages37516494865453Medicare tax5447187912A2941State wages37516494865453State tax23162015210-This is what I suspect most of his taxes will look like for the years of 2011-15 as well. Im sure hes going to be hit with penalties. Last night when I made him call the IRS they told him that his 2010 returns were sub of return and that he needed to file those first whenever he got his transcripts in the mail. Despite my best efforts, I have not been able to get his information or mine for that matter off of the IRSs website. So, were having to wait for them to be mailed, 5 to 10 days. I feel like Im about to have a stroke at any second. My blood pressure is insanely high. Im stressed out. With making nearly 100k last year youd think that wed have plenty of money in our bank account. Nope. Im so terrified I went this morning and pulled what we had out so that it wouldnt be seized. Dont they attempt to notify you or warn you? Regardless, I took out our rent money 1025 and the rest except 300. So in all I took out 2325. I wasnt finished paying bills so I at least wanted to have money to pay the bills. We dont own anything except a 2004 truck. Everything else is being paid on. Its not that I have a problem paying back the IRS, but we at least need some payments. Im most worried theyre about to seize his paychecks or garnish his wages to the point that we will be homeless because we cannot afford our rent, or to the point that Ill lose my car because we cant pay for it which I need to get to the drs office. Some of my doctors are an hour or two away, and I dont have a choice as to whether I use them or not because theyre specialists.-Yes, I am angry with my boyfriend, but not mad at him. Hes not a bad person, he just sucks when it coming to handle things outside of work. Anyway, I have been with him since 2011. I was a FT student up until I graduated last year Aug 2016. I do have student loans but theyre being put on hold at the moment because I cant work. Trust me, Im dying to, but cant. I have some very, very serious health problems that are keeping me from doing so. My point in saying that is that Im sure he can claim me for those years...but...isnt there always a but? Hes legally married. Hes not seen or talked to his wife since 6 months after they were married. She ran off with some guy in 2001 and hes not seen her since. Yes, he shouldve filed for divorce, but like I said, he doesnt think about things sometimes. -So, now you know what kind of situation we are in. What do we do? Are we going to go to jail? Are we going to lose everything we have? What is going to happen? Im trying to get these papers, file taxes asap, but even when I do get the papers, one lady told me We will have to file some of those in the off season. Wth does that mean??? Wont that put us in an even worse position if we wait? Were going to have to pay 2k-5k according to one guy to have them done. If he finds that he owes in 2011-13, for example, but doesnt in 14-16, will that offset what he owes? I suppose I take some responsibility as well for his not filing taxes until now. I shouldve stayed on his ass about it. But I cant fix the past. Basically I just need to know what to do first and if theyre going to take what little we have. Between crying and heart paliptations I swear my already poor body just cant take much more. -Edit:formatting fixed.  <response>: disclaimer: I am not an accountant or lawyer and none of what I write is professional advice. however, I have known a few people in similar situations. Heres what I learned from observing them and talking about their experiences: - you are generally in a better position if you approach the IRS, rather than waiting for them to talk to you.- The IRS has a bad reputation, and they do have a lot of power. But they tend to be reasonable and resort to the hard tactics only as a last resort. - You are probably not going to jail. I had a relative with an addiction problem, who was off-and-on homeless. Earned an income but didnt file taxes for 3 or 4 years. He didnt go to jail. He got clean, talked to an accountant who helped him file back taxes and recommended he speak to a tax lawyer. The lawyer helped negotiate with an IRS agent. Relative had to pay back taxes plus penalties. It was a largish amount but the IRS arranged a reasonable payment schedule over a few years. If he finds that he owes in 2011-13, for example, but doesnt in 14-16, will that offset what he owes?Probably, from my understanding. By comparison if you still owe the IRS 4000 for 2015s taxes and are scheduled to get a 4000 refund for 2016, theyll just confiscate the 2016 refund and call it even. But talk to a pro. This problem is not going away. The sooner you can address it the better. A visit to an accountant is probably best. A real, full-time CPA not a part time tax preparer at HR block. Itll cost a few hundred bucks maybe, but they could walk you through the process, explain things and give you suggestions for dealing with this mess. And the fact that a 100k income has vanished is another issue to deal with. Youre not working, so that must be his income ... wheres all that money going? You two desperately need a budget and a plan. This tax problem is probably a symptom of a deeper set of bad habits. 