IRS penalty abatement: how to ask the IRS to remove a penalty

IRS penalty abatement means asking the IRS to remove a penalty for filing or paying late. The main routes are these. Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP) is new in 2026: for returns from tax year 2025 on, it applies by itself when you filed and paid on time for the past three years. First Time Abate (FTA) is the older relief that you ask for with a call or a letter, and it still covers earlier years. Reasonable cause covers late filing or payment caused by something beyond your control. Relief covers penalties, not the tax, and the IRS decides each request.

The kinds of penalty relief

Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP)

The IRS's new Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP), announced in July 2026, applies to eligible original returns beginning with tax year 2025, and to 2026 quarterly returns and later periods. If you filed your return and paid any tax due on time in each of the three prior years (or 12 consecutive quarters for quarterly returns), penalties for failure to file, failure to pay and failure to deposit are not assessed when your return is processed.

First Time Abate (FTA)

First Time Abate (FTA) has been the most common administrative penalty relief for people with a history of timely compliance. You have to contact the IRS to request it, but you do not need to name First Time Abate or send supporting documents, because the IRS reviews your account to see whether you meet the requirements.

Reasonable cause

Reasonable cause is decided case by case from all the facts and circumstances. For failure to file and failure to pay penalties, you may qualify if you show that you used ordinary care and prudence and were still unable to file your return or pay your taxes on time.

Statutory exception

Tax law also allows relief in set situations called statutory exceptions. Common ones are relying on incorrect written advice from the IRS, mailing a return on time, living in a federal disaster area, and being involved in military operations in a combat zone.

Which penalties can be removed

AEP and First Time Abate can remove the failure to file penalty and the failure to pay penalty regardless of the amount, and also the failure to deposit penalty.

Penalties eligible for relief include information return, failure to file, failure to pay, accuracy-related, failure to deposit, dishonored check, and underpayment of estimated tax penalties.

The estimated tax penalty has its own rules: AEP and First Time Abate do not remove it, and it generally cannot be waived for reasonable cause, but the IRS may remove or reduce it after a casualty, local disaster or other unusual circumstance when it would not be fair to impose the penalty, or if you (or your spouse on a joint return) retired in the past 2 years after reaching age 62 or became disabled and had reasonable cause to underpay or pay your estimated tax late. See IRS: estimated tax penalty for individuals.

Do you qualify for automatic or First Time Abate relief?

To qualify for AEP or First Time Abate you need a timely compliance history: the same type of return was filed on time for the prior three years (or 12 consecutive quarters), and either no penalty (other than the estimated tax penalty) was assessed or a penalty was assessed but later removed for reasonable cause or IRS error.

If you are several years behind on returns, you may not have that record. See how to file back taxes for the steps and for how penalties are counted.

AEP and First Time Abate do not cover returns filed once or infrequently (event-based filing requirements), the Daily Delinquency Penalty, or information reporting that depends on another filing.

Automatic relief (AEP): what changed in 2026

Under AEP you do not need to contact the IRS or respond to the notice: the IRS sends a notice explaining that AEP relief was applied. You are still responsible for any unpaid tax, interest, or other penalty that AEP does not cover.

While First Time Abate phases out, some taxpayers who qualify for AEP may still receive penalty notices for eligible tax year 2025 and 2026 quarterly returns, and those who believe they qualify may contact the IRS to request First Time Abate. AEP will replace First Time Abate for eligible returns with original due dates on or after January 1, 2027.

First Time Abate and AEP compared

First Time Abate: how to ask

To ask for First Time Abate, call the toll-free number in the top right corner of your notice or letter, or send a written statement or Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement, to the address in the Form 843 instructions.

Asking in writing: Form 843

Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement, is the form you can use to ask the IRS in writing to abate or refund a penalty or addition to tax because of reasonable cause or another reason the law allows. The form and its instructions are here: IRS Form 843 and its instructions.

• If you received an IRS notice that says you owe a penalty, follow the instructions on the notice first: the IRS says you may not have to file Form 843.
• If you file Form 843 in response to an IRS notice about income, employment, gift, estate, excise or certain other taxes, mail it to the return address from which the notice was sent.
• On line 6, enter the Internal Revenue Code section of the penalty, which you can generally find on the Notice of Assessment the IRS sent you. On line 8, explain your reasons in detail and attach supporting evidence.
• If your Form 843 relates to a joint return, both you and your spouse from that joint return must sign it.

Reasonable cause: what counts and what does not

Examples of valid reasons for filing or paying late include fires, natural disasters or civil disturbances; inability to get records; death, serious illness or unavoidable absence of you or your immediate family; and system issues that delayed a timely electronic filing or payment.

These generally do not count as reasonable cause: relying on a tax professional, lack of knowledge, mistakes and oversights, and lack of funds by itself. The IRS adds that in certain cases a mistake can count if other facts show you tried to comply, and that although lack of funds by itself is not reasonable cause, you may qualify based on other facts and circumstances that show you used reasonable care and tried to comply with tax law.

How to ask for reasonable cause relief

To ask for relief for reasonable cause, call the toll-free number at the top right corner of your notice and have your supporting documents ready. If you do not qualify for either reasonable cause relief or First Time Abate, or the IRS cannot approve relief over the phone, you can ask in writing with Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement.

Explain what happened and when, how it kept you from filing your return or paying your tax on time, and what you did to try to file or pay. Include supporting documents, such as a doctor's letter or hospital or court records with start and end dates, documentation of a natural disaster or other disturbance, and copies of relevant letters, receipts or forms.

If you ask for reasonable cause relief on a call and the IRS determines you qualify for First Time Abate, it applies First Time Abate instead.

Step by step: how to ask for penalty relief

1. Check the notice. If you received a notice or letter, check that the information is correct. If it is not, follow the instructions on the notice; if you can resolve the issue, a penalty may not apply.
2. Ask. Follow the instructions in the IRS notice you received. Some requests can be approved over the phone: call the toll-free number on your notice or letter and have the notice, the penalty you want relieved and your reasons ready. If the IRS cannot approve relief over the phone, you may request it in writing with Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement.
3. Make your case. For reasonable cause, say what happened and when, and include documents that support it. The details are in the reasonable cause section above.
4. Keep paying what you can. A payment plan may reduce future penalties. If you filed your tax return on time as an individual and have an approved payment plan, the failure to pay penalty drops from 0.5% to 0.25% per month (or part of a month) while the plan is in effect.
5. If the IRS says no, you may be able to appeal. See below.

How much the main penalties are

The failure to file penalty is 5% of the tax due (less tax paid on time and available credits) for each month or part of a month the return is late, up to a maximum of 25%. The penalty does not apply if you can show the failure was due to reasonable cause.

The failure to pay penalty is 0.5% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month the tax stays unpaid, up to a maximum of 25%. The IRS applies full monthly charges for the failure to pay penalty, even if you pay your tax in full before the month ends.

If both penalties apply in the same month, the failure to file penalty is reduced by the failure to pay penalty, so the two together are 5% for that month (4.5% plus 0.5%). The failure to file penalty reaches its maximum after 5 months, and the failure to pay penalty continues. The rate rises to 1% a month if you do not pay within 10 days of a notice of intent to levy. The IRS also charges interest on unpaid tax and on penalties until you pay in full. If the IRS has sent a notice of intent to levy, see IRS wage garnishment and levies.

What happens to interest

The IRS charges interest on penalties. It automatically reduces or removes the related interest if any of your penalties are reduced or removed.

The IRS does not remove or reduce interest for reasonable cause or as first-time relief. It may reduce interest only when the interest is caused by an unreasonable error or delay by an IRS officer or employee, which you can ask about with Form 843 or a signed letter.

If the IRS says no

If the IRS denied your request to remove a failure to file or failure to pay penalty, you may be able to ask the IRS Independent Office of Appeals for a conference or hearing. You generally have 30 days from the date of the rejection letter, so check your letter for the exact deadline.

To appeal, you must have received a letter that the IRS assessed the penalty, sent a written request to remove it, and received a letter denying your request that gives you your appeal rights.

Free help with a penalty notice

• Low Income Taxpayer Clinics: Low Income Taxpayer Clinics represent people in audits, appeals and collection disputes with the IRS, for free or a small fee. Clinics generally serve people with income at or below 250% of the federal poverty guidelines (for 2026, $39,900 for a single person in the 48 contiguous states and D.C.; Alaska and Hawaii have higher figures). Each clinic decides whether you qualify. Clinics are independent of the IRS. Find a clinic.
• Taxpayer Advocate Service: an independent organization within the IRS that may be able to help with a tax problem you have not been able to resolve with the IRS, and its service is free if you qualify. Contact TAS.

When a tax professional makes sense

You can ask for penalty relief yourself with one call to the number on your notice. A tax professional (a CPA, enrolled agent, tax attorney or tax firm) can help if the penalties are large, you have several years of notices, or you also owe tax you cannot pay. Ask about the fee up front. Our guide to paid tax help explains how to choose.