If you have accrued IRS tax penalties due to circumstances that were beyond your control, you may be eligible for penalty abatement. The amount that is forgiven differs, from case to case, as do the circumstances that qualify. Here are a few guidelines that can help you determine if you may be eligible for this type of tax relief:
- In order to be considered for penalty abatement by the IRS, you have to be able to prove that you didn’t pay your taxes due to circumstances beyond your control. Once you can show concrete evidence that you had reasonable cause for not making your tax payments, and you weren’t simply neglecting them, the IRS may reduce your penalty and forgive some of your debt, bringing your total debt down to an amount that you may be able to pay.
- Some reasons that may be considered beyond control are serious illness, unavoidable absence, death, incorrect advice from a competent tax professional or tax attorney, incorrect advice either written or oral directly from the IRS, fire, natural disaster, casualty, or another serious disturbance.
- If you were truly unable to obtain the necessary records to submit your tax payments at the time when they were due, and you can show evidence that you tried to, you may also be considered for penalty abatement.
- Regardless of whether your situation is on this list or not, you should still call a tax help company to find out how you can reduce your IRS debt and get current again. There is almost always help to be had, if you simply ask.
