The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) confirmed that taxpayers who do not correctly pay the taxes owed may face a series of financial penalties, which will increase the longer this procedure is delayed.
The penalties will apply both to those who file their return but do not pay the corresponding amount, and to those who omit taxes they were required to report.
The so-called failure to pay penalty (fine for nonpayment) is calculated as a percentage of the outstanding taxes and can accumulate for months until it reaches a maximum of 25% of the original amount owed.
Who may receive these IRS fines
The penalty will affect all people who do not pay taxes by the deadline set by the tax agency. When this happens, a notice or letter is sent informing them of the amount owed and the corresponding penalties.
If the amount shown on the return is not paid, the fine will be 0.5% of the unpaid taxes for each month or part of a month that the owed tax is not paid . This percentage can continue to increase until it reaches 25%.
How to prevent IRS fines from increasing
To avoid penalties, the instruction for taxpayers is
- File and pay taxes before the deadline
- Request an extension to file the return when you need more time to complete it
- Request a payment plan if you cannot pay the full debt at once
If a person filed their return on time and already has a payment plan approved by the IRS, the failure-to-pay penalty will be reduced to 0.25% for each month payment is delayed, as long as the agreement remains in effect.