<prompt> Human: As the title says, I was a hardcore raging alcoholic for 7 years. Now Im still an alcoholic will be for the rest of my life, but Ive been clean 7 months as of the 26th of last month. Things are moving forward with my life, but my past is officially coming back to haunt me. I am currently 26 years old. I took out a credit card when I was 20 and used it for rent 1 time like 400. I then moved from that location and never paid my bill. I know by now its in collections and fucking up my credit, but I dont even know how to begin to find my debt and pay for it. Who do I contact? I think it was a capitol 1 credit card, but I honestly dont remember. I havent gotten any other credit cards since then, but I recently applied for one and found out my credit score is 571. So obviously bad. I really want to pay off this debt and start building my credit, but, again, Im not sure where to begin. Also, in the throws of the end of my active addiction last year, I did not file my 2016 taxes. I dont have my w2s for that time either. And I just got a letter in the mail from the IRS saying I owe 475 that I have to pay in 10 days or else basically. Do I just pay that fee and my taxes from last year are taken care of? Or will I have to file last years taxes along with this years?I really hate how much of an idiot my past shows me as. I am so ready to move forward and start my actual adult like correctly. I just dont know where exactly to start. Thank you for reading my rambling and for your help.Assistant: Youre not an idiot just because youve made mistakes, financial or otherwise. Discard that mentality, it only hurts you. Step 1: Call and verify with the IRS directly. Mail order IRS scams are common this time of year. Step 2: Pull your credit report to learn exactly what you owe and to whom. Itll likely be listed as a collection agency. Step 3: File your taxes for any year youve missed in the last 3, including 2017. Step 4: Contact the IRS. They will always get their due and you want to set up a payment plan and take care of them first. Step 5: Pay off your debts and stay clean.Human: The first part of your message brought tears to my eyes, so thank you. And also thank you for your detailed response! I will contact the IRS on Monday and start getting things sorted out. Then get a copy of the my credit report and move from there. Im so ready to get all this BS behind me.Your quick and kind response is very, very appreciated :  <response>: Idiots dont get clean for 7 months. That alone is applaud worthy! Keep it up! 