IRS Waives Roughly $1 Billion in Penalties on Back Taxes

The Internal Revenue Service announced that it will waive a total of roughly $1 billion in penalty fees on back taxes.

Details: Nearly five million people and businesses are eligible for the relief, mostly those making under $400,000 with back taxes from 2020 and 2021. 

Key Quotes: An announcement from the IRS stated, “Due to the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS temporarily suspended the mailing of automated reminders to pay overdue tax bills starting in February 2022. These reminders would have normally been issued as a follow up after the initial notice. Although these reminder notices were suspended, the failure-to-pay penalty continues to accrue for taxpayers who did not fully pay their bills in response to the initial balance due notice. Given this unusual situation, the IRS is taking several steps in advance of resuming normal collection notices for tax years 2020 and 2021 to help taxpayers with unpaid tax bills, including some people who have not received a notice from the IRS in more than a year.” The agency is “taking steps to waive the failure-to-pay penalties for eligible taxpayers affected by this situation for tax years 2020 and 2021.”

How the Media Covered It: Outlets across the spectrum covered the relief announcement. Coverage from The Washington Times (Lean Right) focused primarily on the relief, but the article’s headline and first paragraph did not mention the announcement, instead focusing on the agency resuming collection notices.