Ok let me start off by saying that everyone has a fear of
something...I am a 24 year old guy and I have a fear of taxes.  A
paralyzing one that has kept me from filing my taxes since 2003.  I
don't know why.  It's so scary to me.  In every single other element
of my life I am completely competent but I CANNOT seem to get it
together with the tax man!

Ok, to the topic:  I got a letter from the IRS saying that they
haven't received a return for the tax period 12-31-2004.  I am unsure
whether or not I paid for 2003, either, but I haven't gotten a letter.
 I have the money to pay whatever I owe and just want to DO IT so I
won't live in fear of the man, lol.  But it is so daunting to me, so
before I go into the story here are my questions:

1) HOW CAN I FIND OUT EXACTLY WHAT YEARS I HAVEN'T PAID?
2) IS THERE ANY EASY WAY TO JUST GO AHEAD AND PAY WHAT I AM SUPPOSED
TO WITHOUT GOING THROUGH RECORDS AND STUFF? and
3) IF THERE ISN'T, IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN GET BACK COPIES OF MY FORMER
1040s AND STUFF FOR SUBMISSION? and
4) WILL THIS RIDICULOUS TAX EVASION (lol, of like no more than $4K)
LEAD TO PERSECUTION (legal, personal, credit history, etc) IN THE
PRESENT AND FUTURE?
5) ANYTHING ELSE I SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HOW THIS MINI-TAX DRAMA CAN AFFECT ME?
6) and on a less pressing note - is this common or am i really weird? 
clearly i'd like to think that many twenty-somethings are paralyzed by
their taxes but all my friends are obsessed and file by Feb of each
year, taking deductions for the 33% of their kitchen table that their
laptop sits on, lol.

So the deal: in 2001 I randomly made an incredible amount of money (of
course right after they stopped tax averaging) and, being a college
kid and stupid I just filed my taxes the simple way in April 2002 and
paid EXHORBITANT taxes, no deductions.  So by the time the next year
rolled around I realized that had I put an extra hour into the deal I
would have saved myself at least $10,000 minimum in exemptions.  So I
said I would revise my stament in 2003 for my 2002 taxes as
allowed...the next year rolled around and when tax season rolled
around I found myself in a remote area (of my brain) and said I would
catch up later...since I was a college student and I didn't earn any
money I didn't have to pay taxes...so being a stubborn guy I again put
it off...then in
2004, when it came time to pay my 2003 (where I only worked half the
year after graduating from college and for the rest of the year was
self-employeed by one company and receiving a tax form saying I earned
like $18,000 or something) I again panicked...this time I got all the
way to the end of H&R online and and saw that I would owe like $1,000
and I got miffed that there wasn't a place for my past tax deductions
and in this case I HONESTLY don't know if I actually filed or not (ok,
I know, TOTALLY DUMB).  I do not have a history of my checks or credit
cards (lost in transit) so I dont' know.  I do not remember receiving
anything in the mail or anything.

...and then to 2005 when paying the 2004 taxes, I did a little better.
 I think I did the H&R block thing and sent in some sort of extension
form...I don't remember how much I actually made but it was between
$18-$25,000...when I sent the envelope it was maybe with an estimated
tax check in it...maybe not...but I was just so miffed at myself for
not putting in the time to recoup the old deductions that I again
blocked it all out...and now we are here at 2006 paying 2005
taxes...being that I only earned around $15,000, I can't imagine owing
much in taxes (if anything) but I'm so stressed about everything that
I can't get started fixing this out!  2007 will be the first year that
I only have ONE real job (all my other stuff was self employed) with
ONE tax form and I am so excited to mail it right on in!

In the meantime, WHAT DO I DO?! :) Like I said, I have the money to
pay my taxes (I've very carefully budgeted that random windfall while
pursuing education and experience in search of my current career) but
don't even know where to start.  I have all my forms and stuff for
*this* year's taxes but don't know where to look for the previous
years.  Please answer the questions above to help me straighten up and
fly right!

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Clarification of Question by youngandconfused-ga on 22 Mar 2006 07:24 PST

i guess i forgot to mention that i live in a small town in ohio and
REALLY don't want any of the CPAs in my business...like i said, i
recognize that i'm totally overreacting (as people with issues/fears
often do), but i just need some help getting it all together.  the
problem was that i was just a dude doing random things for chunks of
change for a few years...and now as of february this year i have a
"stable" job working as an employee for a company, as opposed to a
self-employed individual.  this means that next year tax season will
be a breeze (hopefully) and i've also grown up a lot.  i'm a prime
example of a stupid kid who just expected things to "go away"! :-)

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Clarification of Question by youngandconfused-ga on 22 Mar 2006 09:26 PST

ok, i'm really lame.  i just called the number on the letter i
received, they told me EXACTLY how much money i had earned in 2004,
that I did pay for 2003, and exactly how much i would owe for 2005 is
coming in the mail.  i feel much better now.  i am shocked by what a
twit I am (I actually sent a check for my taxes in 2004 but didn't
file the forms...dummy) so I probably won't have to pay penalties. 
whew!

for people in similar situations - call the irs!  while you'll have to
wait on hold FOREVER (like over 10 minutes) the people are REALLY nice
and SUPER helpful.  i'm amazed that their computer system actually
holds all that information for the entire united states working
population.

"Ridiculous" tax problem?   Go see a certified public accountant and
have them do your taxes for you.