You cannot go to jail for making a mistake or filing your tax return incorrectly. However, if your taxes are wrong by design and you intentionally leave off items that should be included, the IRS can look at that action as fraudulent, and a criminal suit can be instituted against you.
If you realize there was a mistake on your return, you can amend it using Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. For example, a change to your filing status, income, deductions, credits, or tax liability means you need to amend your return.
And for good reason—failing to pay your taxes can lead to hefty fines and increased financial problems. But, failing to pay your taxes won't actually put you in jail. In fact, the IRS cannot send you to jail, or file criminal charges against you, for failing to pay your taxes.
In general, no, you cannot go to jail for owing the IRS. Back taxes are a surprisingly common occurrence. In fact, according to 2018 data, 14 million Americans were behind on their taxes, with a combined value of $131 billion!
If the IRS finds that you were negligent in making a mistake on your tax return, then it can assess a 20% penalty on top of the tax you owe as a result of the audit. This additional penalty is intended to encourage taxpayers to take ordinary care in preparing their tax returns.
Remember that the IRS will catch many errors itself
For example, if the mistake you realize you've made has to do with math, it's no big deal: The IRS will catch and automatically fix simple addition or subtraction errors. And if you forgot to send in a document, the IRS will usually reach out in writing to request it.
IRS Notification
You'll likely receive a letter in the mail notifying you of the error, and the IRS will automatically adjust it. If, however, your mistake is more serious -- such as underreporting income -- you could be headed for an audit. Many audits start with a letter requesting more information or verification.
The IRS does check each and every tax return that is filed. If there are any discrepancies, you will be notified through the mail.
While the chances of an audit are slim, there are several reasons why your return may get flagged, triggering an IRS notice, tax experts say. Red flags may include excessive write-offs compared with income, unreported earnings, refundable tax credits and more.
Audit trends vary by taxpayer income. In recent years, IRS audited taxpayers with incomes below $25,000 and those with incomes of $500,000 or more at higher-than-average rates. But, audit rates have dropped for all income levels—with audit rates decreasing the most for taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more.
Summary. Basically, an audit isn't going to look beyond three years if there are just minor infractions. The IRS won't bother going past two years most of the time. The audit could look back as far as six years if it's found that the amount of income omitted from a tax return was over 25% of your gross income.
It may take the IRS up to 16 weeks to process amended returns. File Form 1040-X to amend. Taxpayers must file on paper using Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to correct their tax return.
If you attempt to file your return twice, the IRS will reject the return and return it with an error code and explanation. The IRS typically uses error code 0515 or IND-515 to inform the sender that the taxpayer already filed a tax return for the same year using the same Social Security number.
Under reporting is the deliberate criminal act of reporting less income or revenue than was actually received. The tax loss revenue that results from under reporting may ultimately slash the funds that Social Security, Medicare, and other federal programs need to finance their outgoing expenditures.
Criminal Investigations can be initiated from information obtained from within the IRS when a revenue agent (auditor), revenue officer (collection) or investigative analyst detects possible fraud.
The Short Answer: Yes. The IRS probably already knows about many of your financial accounts, and the IRS can get information on how much is there. But, in reality, the IRS rarely digs deeper into your bank and financial accounts unless you're being audited or the IRS is collecting back taxes from you.
Generally, the IRS can include returns filed within the last three years in an audit. If we identify a substantial error, we may add additional years. We usually don't go back more than the last six years.
Failing to report all of your income on your tax return is a top audit trigger. That's because income that goes unreported on your tax return also goes untaxed. The IRS receives copies of your W-2 and 1099 forms and will automatically check to see that your reported income matches up.
There is generally a 10-year time limit on collecting taxes, penalties, and interest for each year you did not file. However, if you do not file taxes, the period of limitations on collections does not begin to run until the IRS makes a deficiency assessment.
In general, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has 10 years to collect unpaid tax debt. After that, the debt is wiped clean from its books and the IRS writes it off.
The six-year rule allows for payment of living expenses that exceed the Collection Financial Standards, and allows for other expenses, such as minimum payments on student loans or credit cards, as long as the tax liability, including penalty and interest, can be full paid in six years.