First Time Abate Waiver

It is common for the IRS to waive Failure to File (FTF) and Failure to Pay (FTP) penalties for taxpayers who have demonstrated full compliance over the prior three years. This waiver, called a First-Time Abate (FTA) is to reward past tax compliance and promote future tax compliance. A report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that most taxpayers with compliant tax histories are not offered and do not receive the FTA waiver. For the 2010 tax year, approximately 250,000 taxpayers with FTF penalties and 1.2 million taxpayers with FTP penalties did not receive penalty relief even though they qualified for the FTA waiver. In addition, taxpayer requests for penalty abatements were not always processed accurately.

The unabated penalties for over 1.4 million taxpayers were estimated to equal $181,000,000.

Please contact us today if you think you might qualify for the tax penalty relief described above and we can make sure you did not pay more than the required amount.