How to Waive Late Charges & Penalties for Filing Your Income Taxes Late
- 1). Complete IRS From 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement. Provide your name, address and Social Security number in the top section of the form.
- 2). Provide the tax year the request is for on line 1. If you are requesting an abatement for more than one period, you must complete a form for each tax year separately. If you know the amount of penalties you are seeking relief from, fill in the amount on line 2. This information is not mandatory, so it's okay to leave line 2 blank.
- 3). Check the "Income" box on line 3, Type of Tax.
- 4). Record the type of penalty on line 4. If you do not have the IRC code, write "Late filing penalty" on the line. You can also obtain code and penalty amount information by reviewing a copy of your IRS account transcript for the tax period in question. Requests for free account transcripts can be made online through the IRS.gov website. You will receive your transcript by mail in five to seven days.
- 5). Check the "Reasonable Cause" box on line 5a.
- 6). Check the "1040" box on line 6.
- 7). Provide an explanation for the late filing in box 7. Attach additional pages if necessary. If you have documents that support your claim, attach them to Form 843 prior to sending the form.
- 8). Send the request to the service center that processes your file. The address may be on correspondence you receive from the IRS, or you can simply mail Form 843 to the center that processes your tax return. See resources for "Where to File" information.
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