Three Year Income Tax Statute of Limitation

Did you know...

There is a three year statute of limitations on filing your income tax return if you are owed a refund by the government.

If you file past the three year limitation the government will not pay any refund older than three years.

What does this mean when filing a return prior to 2002 income taxes?

You will not receive a refund if one was owed on your 2001 and any prior year returns if they have not already been filed. The deadline for 2001 refunds would have been December 31, 2005.

You must file your 2002 income taxes before December 31, 2006 in order to receive any refund owed for 2002. If you wait to file this return until January 1, 2007 you will forfeit the refund if there is one owed to you.

If you owe the government money, interest starts to accrue on your debt as of April 30th.

File those tax returns by the April 30th deadline for personal returns and by June 15th for small business owners to avoid any late filing penalties. Any monies owed to the government are due by the April 30th deadline even if you don't have to file your return until June 15th.