I am a 28 year old pastor, and I recently realized that our tax professional made a significant mistake on the last 5 years of my taxes. He didn't report any social security, and as a result, I have "0" balances for those years on my social security statement. I'm in the process of working with a new tax professional to clear this up. My question is about years 2012 and 2013 - since they are past the 3 year and 3 month mark, do I need to pay those years back? If so, will I still get credit for them when I retire even though they were paid late? Thanks.

Hi,

Social Security won't give you credit for any self-employment earnings reported on an amended tax return that's filed more than 3 years, 3 months and 15 days after the end of the tax year in question.

Therefore, unless you meet one of the exceptions to the Statute of Limitations (https://secure.ssa.gov/apps10/poms.nsf/lnx/0302201008), there would be no way at this point to receive Social Security credit for any years prior to 2014 even if the IRS requires you to pay self-employment taxes for those years. I'm no expert on IRS rules, though, so I don't know what your liability with them may be.

Best, Jerry