Staff Reports
The IRS is making headlines again, this time for waiving a whopping $1 billion in penalties for 4.7 million filers. Can you believe it? That’s a lot of money being given away for free! Commissioner Danny Werfel said the tax agency felt it would be downright unfair to suddenly hit these taxpayers with a collection notice out of the blue.
IRS says pandemic is over, collection notices will start again in 2024https://t.co/ywZLVLxTaN pic.twitter.com/6TQfktBCFl
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) December 20, 2023
This relief bonanza will benefit taxpayers who owe less than $100,000 and were in the IRS collection doghouse or received a due notice between Feb. 5, 2022, and Dec. 7, 2023. Plus, some lucky filers who already paid up might even get some cash back. The IRS also pointed out that most of the lucky recipients make under $400,000 a year.
But wait, there’s more! The average relief waiver is a cool $206. That’s right, you could basically find that much money in your couch cushions. And if you’re one of those suckers who doesn’t qualify for the waiver, don’t worry! The IRS says you can still seek other relief programs.
Mr. Werfel made it clear that this waiver is part of an attempt to get the tax agency back to business as usual after the chaotic pandemic. It turns out that taxes were still due during the pandemic, shocker! But the Biden administration decided to suspend a slew of collection letters and notices, creating a massive backlog of unprocessed returns. The IRS was afraid that sending out the collection notices could cause even more confusion.
