Abatement of Penalties

Every year, the IRS imposes penalties on millions of taxpayers. The most common penalties are assessed for failures to file a tax return, failure to pay a tax owed, and underpayment of taxes. These penalties can dramatically increase the amount you owe. In addition, the IRS will charge interest on penalties.  

Penalties can be as high as 75% of the original taxes owed. Oftentimes, a taxpayer has enough money to pay the tax owed but cannot pay the liability in full because there is a large amount of accrued penalties and interest.

Relief from, or abatement of, penalties is possible. A taxpayer must demonstrate that the circumstances giving rise to the penalty were due to “reasonable cause” and not “willful neglect” of the taxpayer. Careful presentation of the facts and circumstances surrounding the cause for the penalty is essential to obtaining relief.