The chances of a tax return being lost in the mail or, upon receipt, lost or misplaced by the Internal Revenue Service are rare. While remote, the possibility of the return being lost does exist and could happen. Self-employed persons could end up facing accusations of "failure to file" if there is no record of a submitted tax return. As time passes, the IRS may file a "substitute for a return"

Deciding to file bankruptcy can affect the way you pay your taxes before filing. Here are a few tips you can use to help you with tax preparation and payments, so that all steps you take are legal and don't have any negative impact on your bankruptcy petition.  Paying Taxes Prior To Filing If you owe taxes that are considered non-dischargeable, you should consider selling nonexempt property and paying off your tax debts before filing bankruptcy If part of the your taxes due are dischargeable, you can force the IRS to to apply those payments to the non-dischargeable part.