<prompt> Human: So I havent done my taxes since I was in school about 5 years ago. I started working as a freelance photographer as it was done, making a pretty small amount of money for the first couple of years, but in the last three years things blew up and made some very good money, this was when I was still living in Canada, and began to make money from jobs in the US. I meanwhile was letting the deadlines for my taxes pass simply because of my incompetence. Im disorganized with my invoices, wasnt sure how much total I had made, and didnt even know how to file because I wasnt sure what would go to which country. Now Ive been living in the US for over a year. in 2014 I lived for 4 months in Canada and 8 months in the US. I need to know how I figure out what I still owe, to who, and how to do this, for the few years before this. Is there any way to avoid serious penalty? I dont want my financial ignorance to cripple me, and I really just need to know what to do between borders. I cant leave this again. Any tips on simply where to start. Im that bad with this kind of thing.  <response>: This sounds like a situation where a CPA with tax knowledge should be paid for. I usually encourage people to handle things on their own, but because of two countries and your apparent lack of bookkeeping, this is going to be challenging. Get help. 