South Carolina Tax Attorney

    I have many clients who come in with tax problems and they have not filed returns in many years.  The first step to getting on the right track with the IRS is to get those returns filed (at least for the last six years).  But you say, "how can I file my tax returns when I don’t have copies of my W-2’s and other financial information?" 

    The answer is, just ask the IRS for that information.  You can call the IRS 800 number to get that information, or if you don’t want to spend half of your waking hours on hold with the IRS, you can mail in a request form for the years you need.  The form number you need is 4506-T.  If you need wage and income information you will just fill out your personal information at the top of the form and, check the block next to number eight requesting Form W-2, Form 1099 series, Form 1098 Series or Form 5498 series transcript.  Then under section nine, fill in the years you need this financial information for.  For example, if you did not file a 2002 tax return and need that information, you would put 12/31/2002 in the first box. 

    This procedure will provide you with all of the information you need to get all of the forms your employers, banks, governments would have sent you during those years. 

    The next problem you are going to run into is not having the proof of your business expenses, etc.    Unfortunately, there is no magic form to bring that data back to life.