back taxes return timeline?

I have to get my back taxes filed because I only recently learned that I should have been doing my taxes (like loads of people here).

It's especially imporatnt that I get this done as soon as possible because my UKC husband and I have decided to start a visa process to move to America. In order to do this I have to show 3 years of tax returns...

My question is this:

For anyone that has back filed, how long does it take to get proof of filing and have your returns finished and sent back?

thanks!

The IRS does not provide official receipts for submitted tax returns. But one proof of filing you can obtain is when you pay some tax and your bank statement shows that the IRS has cashed your cheque. If you owe nothing, then you can at least organise to record DHL tracking  information showing that your package was delivered to the Austin processing centre. As for how quickly you can file 3 years of offshore streamlined delinquent returns, might your circumstances be sufficiently simple that you can do this yourself?

Surely the IRS sends you your tax return information back so you know if you owe or get money back? How long does that take to receive?

The IRS do not respond to tax returns unless there is tax unpaid or they select for audit. Are you filing under streamlined?

ok,

i think i understand now! (i found some more information)

I am not aware of any IRS web site where one can check one's tax payment status. (This is unlike HMRC which has a nice portal for seeing a record of self-assessment filings and one's tax account.)

You will hear from the IRS if a refund is due. I have had refunds checks for amounts as small as $7.21 (with no explanation of why), and letters telling me that my return was in error and I owe $11.31 more. Such letters typically arrive as long as 3 months after the date that they were supposedly posted. (Does the IRS still use sea mail?). Surely each such letter has cost them more to produce than the sums involved. How is one supposed to deposit a check for $7.21 when in the UK?

So perhaps one way to get a "receipt" is to deliberately over-pay, and then get a small refund check.

"Streamlined" refers to this: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/U-S-Taxpayers-Residing-Outside-the-United-States

It is a program by which people can get caught up on US tax filing, and have the penalties for late filing waived. If you were to participate in this program this year you would prepare returns for 2012,13,14 (paying tax and interest), and also file 2015 as normal.

The reason why letters from the IRS arrive so late is they don't send them out as they prepare them in the normal way. They put the letters to the UK in a sack. When the sack is full, they send the sack to the UK. A service then puts UK postage on the letters and mails them out. This saves them the difference between the US airmail and UK domestic stamp. Other business do this also.

Of course, this does mean you sometimes get letters demanding a response with a deadline that was weeks ago. And let's not even mention their ability to mangle non-US addresses.

When the sack is full, they send the sack to the UK.

Thanks for the explanation of IRS mailing procedures. That explains a lot.

You could ask the IRS for transcripts by sending Form 4506-T.