IRS Penalty Relief Is Shockingly Easy To Get

The IRS has a lot of ways to make a tax bill grow. It is not just the tax you owe. They also add interest and penalties. The common ones are failure to file, failure to pay, and accuracy related penalties.

The biggest one by far is the failure to file penalty. That penalty is 5% of the unpaid tax per month, up to 25%. If you also did not pay the tax, the IRS usually adds a failure to pay penalty of 0.5% per month. It is smaller, but it keeps running. Over time your balance can end up much higher than the original tax bill.

Here is something most people do not know. The IRS has a program that can remove these penalties. It is called First Time Penalty Abatement.

If you qualify, the IRS can remove the failure to file and failure to pay penalties for one tax year. Honestly, I’ve seen FTA knock five figures off a balance. It can make a huge difference.

The rules are pretty simple. First, you need to have filed all required tax returns or at least have valid extensions in place. Second, you need to have paid the tax or set up a payment plan with the IRS. Third, you need a clean history, which means no significant penalties in the previous three tax years.

One important thing to know is that the IRS does not do this automatically. You have to ask for it. Before approving it, the IRS will check that all required returns are filed and that you are addressing the tax debt itself.

If IRS penalties are increasing your balance, it may be possible to have them removed. Keeton Tax Law PLLC helps taxpayers deal with the IRS and pursue penalty relief when it is available. Call 702-530-9709 to discuss your situation.