My 94-year-old mom has been widowed for 16 years. She has been retired for about 30 years. When my dad passed away, her retirement benefits became less than the minimum amount upon which she would pay taxes, so she stopped filing tax returns. Recently, I happened to notice a 1099-R from one of her investment accounts. It indicated that they paid her $7000, and withheld $1400 federal tax and $395 state tax. This amount is in addition to her SS income, but the two combined total less than $25000. So I have prepared a tax return for her for 2014, and she will receive the approximate $1800 in refund. My question is simply, is there any way to file returns for past years in order to access that money, or is she simply out of luck? Thanks for your help.

you have until the later of three years from the date of the original deadline of the tax return or two years from the date the tax was actually paid to claim a refund of overpaid taxes from the IRS. For example, your 2013 tax return is due on April 15th, 2014. Add three years to this filing deadline, and you have until April 15th, 2017, to file your 2013 tax return and still get a tax refund. If you file your 2013 return after April 15th, 2017, then your refund expires. It goes away forever because the statute of limitations for claiming a refund has closed.