There are some things everyone needs to know about filing back taxes. Back taxes refer to outstanding tax debt that someone owes from prior years.  Back taxes can be Personal taxes, Business taxes, Payroll taxes, Sales taxes, Other taxes and can also be a combination of tax liabilities from the past.  There are times when someone can be behind on their taxes and not even know it - for example, a business owner who closes out a company by filing a Final Business tax return, yet forgets to close out his or her Payroll filing requirements may still owe back taxes on the latter.  If taxes remain unpaid, then after multiple notices sent by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a minimum penalty fee of $135 could be charged in addition to interest on the unpaid amount, which is typically 0.5% per month that the tax payer is late, up to 25%. Keep in mind that interest on any given liability associated with back taxes increases with passing of time.
 
The IRS deals with back taxes in a number of ways, such as sending the taxpayer notices as a demand to pay immediately, filing Liens, Levies, Wages Garnishments, and in some cases Passport revocation or Federal lawsuit.  There are cases when the IRS can even seize property and assets, such as bank accounts.
 
You might be surprised to learn that filing your Original tax returns (or Amended tax returns) can be the quickest way out of back tax issues. The IRS allows taking care of back taxes this way because in many cases the liabilities associated with back taxes arose from non-filings in the first place.