How To File 2011 Taxes in 2015

That’s right, the time to get a 2011 tax refund is long gone. But you must still file your taxes.

‘Better late than never‘ really does apply here.

The IRS has a three-year statute of limitations which only allows tax filers three years to collect a tax refund from the original deadline date. Once three years has passed, your money belongs to the U.S treasury and there’s no way of claiming it or applying it to another tax year.

2011 tax returns were due on April 15, 2012. That means the very last day file a 2011 return and receive a 2011 refund was April 15, 2015.

Expecting a Refund? You Won’t Face Late Penalties

The fear of facing late penalties and interest results in many taxpayers avoiding filing a late tax return. However, it’s good to keep in mind that those expecting a refund won’t end up with late penalties or interest.

That’s right, if you’re expecting a tax refund from your  2011 tax return, you won’t be punished for filing late. 

Failure-to-file penalties only apply to those who owe tax. These individuals with a tax liability, will also face failure-to-pay penalties and interest. In other words, if you still need to file your 2011 tax return and have tax due, you’ll want to do your 2011 taxes as soon as possible. The longer you wait means the higher the tax bill.

How To File 2011 Taxes

Filing 2011 taxes late doesn’t need to be a complicated process. In fact, with PriorTax you can complete your 2011 taxes in as little as 15 minutes! Here’s how;

1. Create a PriorTax Account: Be sure to select “Prior Year 2011” from the Tax Year drop down menu.
2. Enter Your Information: Enter your 2011 tax information by following the user-friendly PriorTax application.
3. Review Your Entered Info: If you need to file a state return as well, simply select both Federal & State in the Review Tab.
4. Checkout & Submit: Once you’ve entered all the necessary information, you’ll pay and submit your tax return.
5. Print, Sign & Mail: After you’ve successfully submitted your return, the PriorTax team will prepare and review your 2011 return. Once they’ve done so, you’ll be notified. At that point, you’ll simply need to print and sign it before mailing it to the IRS.
6. Collect your Tax Refund: Once you’ve mailed your tax return, the hard part is over and you can sit back and wait for the IRS to send your refund!

Unfortunately, since you’re filing a prior year tax return, you won’t have the option to e-file your taxes and will be forced to paper file. E-File is only available to those filing a current year tax return.

Once the tax season ends, the e-file system shuts down for that tax year, meaning filers are required to print and mail their late tax returns.

Don’t Wait Any Longer to File Your 2011 Taxes

Even though you’re required to paper file, you’ll still be able to prepare your 2011 taxes online. PriorTax will automatically do the work for you after you’ve entered your information. In other words, all you have to do afterwards is print, sign and mail!

As long as your 2011 tax return is postmarked by April 15, 2015, it’s considered to be on time for you to collect your 2011 tax refund.

Don’t wait until the last minute to file your late taxes. Take care of it now and avoid potentially losing your refund money forever.

 Photo via James Cridland on Flickr

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2014 at 10:34 pm and is filed under Taxes for Prior Years. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.