Quote:
Originally Posted by soccertese
all my income was via a sole proprietor business and on a SE form. btw, thanks for your responses, always amazed at the kindness of strangers on these boards!
i didn't file 2008,2009,2010,2011 returns until 2013 but actually overpaid my estimated taxes in each year they were due which was all 4 years so there was no penalty, SOCIAL SECURITY still wouldn't accept the wages i earned in any of those years except 2011. I had filed late returns before, always paid enough taxes but they were all within 3 years so i guess having filed late returns before made me think it was no big deal since i had paid the taxes on time.
as an aside, i found out from IRS that it takes 12 months now to get their numbers over to SS if you file a late return. dealing with the IRS over these late returns was a nightmare, admittedly my fault for filing so late. they sent me a letter stating i owed quite a bit of money based on stock sales from my 1099'S. Since i hadn't filed a SCHEDULE-D stating the cost basis of my stocks, they assumed 100% profit on each trade. This got my attention to say the least. To make a long story short, i had a deadline to get my returns to them which turned out to be 30 days. I sent my returns to them certified mail and go proof of receipt. called them a week later, they had no record of receiving the returns. called 2 weeks, no returns, was told it could take 6 weeks to register them, past the 30days. i was told not to worry, as long as they received them on time i had nothing to worry about. talk about something to worry about. i actually took copies down to the local IRS office and asked them to stamp one to send to their FRESNO office and stamp one for me to keep so i could prove they got them within 30 days. so they got them in time. you never talk to the same person twice and get different answers. lesson here is get your returns in on time.
|
Do not beat yourself up on being late. Believe me, you are not the first person to be late filing returns. I had someone come to me with 10 years to file. It is sad when the tax client losses their rightful refunds when late and the usual reason is because the tax laws are so complicated that it becomes too overwhelming for the taxpayer and the returns get put on hold. I have found that the self-employed are usually the ones that are late more often than others. For one reason, they are so busy trying to earn a living that often the bookkeeping is postponed, then trying to put it all together combined with complicated tax laws is so time consuming that they postpone it while they attempt to earn a living. Next thing, a year has passed, then you have to file the OLD year before you can file the new one due and the cycle begins. It is when they, like you, get those IRS notices, that they knock on my door begging for assistance.
If you PAID self-employment taxes and have your SE schedules to prove it, I really believe that SSA will have to accept your earnings and give you the credits you earned. It may take some time for the record to be updated.
I am much more versed in tax laws and regulations than SS, so I will look into it, but I really do not think your earnings can be ignored if you paid self-employment taxes on them. It may just be a matter of getting it into the record.
One other concern is the "amount" of your earnings. Were they enough to earn the full 4 credits each year? Even if they were low earnings, you may have earned 3 credits for a particular year. Every credit earned toward the requirements counts. I am not asking for your earnings. I would not want you to disclose that kind of information on an open forum.
And yes, I have often seen IRS use 100% basis since they do not have a return to indicate otherwise, all they know is what is on 1099 B.
If I can be of any help, just let me know. Best of luck to you. You may not get your refunds but I do think you should be entitled to an updated SSA record of earnings. It may just be a matter of time getting them into your record. You may meet the eligibility requirements once that is done. You can look at your returns and calculate it for yourself and see if you will be eligible to continue with your disability claim.
Are you still attempting any work with a reduction of hours due to your impairment? Other posters are correct that you are not considered disabled if you are capable of "gainful" work when medicated. If medication precludes your ability to work, and your work can not be accomplished if not on the medication, then you may be considered a candidate for disability.
I have known SSA to go back 30 years for missing income when computing disability benefits if they think the earnings record is missing any earned income. Many women in the workforce may have no earnings for one year on their SSA earnings record when they took off for having a child. SSA will ask them if NO earnings for a long ago year is accurate in order to properly calculate their disability benefits.