Does one have to file a tax return if...

[ocean view]

I stopped filing after I had lived overseas for about two years, to make sure I no longer needed to file a state and city of NY return. About a year later the IRS sent me a letter asking why I had not filed a return and I ignored them. I think that was thirteen years ago and I never heard another peep. I do check yearly to see if rules have changed and if I need to file.

You may get a surprise, or at minimum a headache from the IRS, should you decide to move back to the US in the future. The statue of limitations clock only begins once a return is filed. There is no statute on a tax return that was never filed.

Your headache will be to prove you had no filing requirement for those years, and of course no tax. Non filing penalties and interest will probably not be material, but still a bother to deal with.