Yes, the IRS can freeze your refund and ask you to file if you have an unfiled return from a past year, especially if the IRS projects that you will owe taxes on that past return. The IRS will hold your refund for six months while it requests a filed return from you. If you don’t file the past-due return, the IRS can charge you, or assess, taxes from that past return through the Automated Substitute for Return (ASFR) program, and apply your refund to any balance due.