Political and Legislative
IRS to Refund $1.2B in Late-Filing Penalties to Millions of Taxpayers
The IRS will refund $1.2 billion in penalties to 1.6 million individual and business taxpayers who were fined for not filing tax or information returns on time for 2019 and 2020, as the pandemic disrupted the economy and led to a pileup of unprocessed returns at the agency.
The penalty relief — detailed in an IRS notice — is automatic, so taxpayers won’t have to apply for it, and many of the payments will be completed by the end of September, the agency said Wednesday. For those who haven’t paid fines yet, the penalties will be abated.
Still, to qualify, taxpayers must file by Sept. 30 any returns that are still outstanding for the 2019 and 2020 tax years. There are various other deadlines for information returns that businesses must file.
