I have a client who has been operating a landscaping business for well over 10 years. His wife came to me and begged me to take over and help him get square with the IRS/bookkeeping. 

I spoke with the women who does his invoicing(she does not touch his books), looked at his books and they are a mess. He apparently has had employees but has never submitted payroll, 1099's or any other accounting for how much, who or when they came and went. This is nothing to say how aweful his books are. 

I feel like I might be able to stitch together his books for the last two years with reasonable accuracy but I am not a forensic accountant nor a tax lawyer so the deeper I look the more I worry that if I do attempt to file a tax return, I will be opening a pandoras box. I have no doubt that he has tax debt in the 5-6 figures and if I file a return, I may not be able to stop the freight train coming his way. 

I am happy to help but I have a feeling that at this point, it might be too far gone. It seems their marriage is on the line so I am reluctant to tell them nothing can be done but I also dont know how bad it really is. 

What would you advise they do? Should I try to help them sort their books or just pass them off? Should I file an extension or will an extension that comes with no real idea of how much is owed or even if he might try to pay it off just asking the IRS to come'a'calling?