/biz/ - Business & Finance

Ill keep it brief while including whatever relevant information i have.

2013, I was dating a girl who convinced me to claim her kids on my income taxes, because if she claimed them, the moneybwould just be taken to her student loan repayment.

My stupid, naive, gullible ass did so.

We got like $7,000, split it, a few weeks later we break up and arent talking anymore.

Fast forward another year, I file my taxes, uncle sam says "Uh, wtf?" I get audited.

My dad dies. My dog dies. My next girlfriend cheats, robs me, and leaves me. I spiral into depression, barely survive the next few months, and ignore the letters from the IRS (never even opened them), the amount is something like $15,000 (for reference, I make about 22-25k annually.) I havent filed my taxes since.

Continue ignoring. The money is sent to collections.

Can I file for a tax refund again? If I do, will the IRS just update my file and start garnishing my wages? Should I get an attorney, or would I just be wasting money? Im really at a loss for what to do here. If I can get by with never filing taxes again but avoiding prison/a huge garnishment thats fine. Id really like to get back in the G-man's good graces, though, but if they garnished my wages or threated me with prison Id probably just blow my brains out on the spot.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm gully aware of how completely mentally fucking retarded I was at the offset.