The IRS last week expanded its relief provisions for financially distressed taxpayers. Effective immediately, the IRS will abate its failure- to-pay penalties for 2011 taxpayers, as long as all taxes are paid by October 15, 2015. To qualify for this relief, you have to be:
· A W-2 employee and unemployed for at least 30 consecutive days in 2011 or during the 3 ½ months ending April 15,2012, or
· Self-employed and experiencing a contraction of at least 25% in 2011 business income.
The IRS was very quick to point out that this abatement is for the failure- to-pay penalty only. You still have to file a return by April 15, 2012.
NOTE: There are two “big” penalties when you do not file a return. The first is the failure-to-file penalty. The second is the failure-to-pay. Most tax advisors will counsel you to always file, even if you cannot pay. The failure-to-file penalty is 5% a month, ten times the failure-to-pay penalty of 1/2% a month.
There is a new form to request the abatement (Form 1127-A). The relief is also limited to incomes of $100,000 if you are single and $200,000 if you are married.
The other thing the IRS did is to double the income limitation for a streamlined installment agreement. The streamlined is a payment plan with the IRS. You now qualify if your assessed taxes are $50,000 or less. This is an increase from $25,000, which itself had recently been raised from $10,000. The advantage to the streamlined is that you do not have to provide financial information to the IRS.
The payment term for the streamlined was also increased – from five years to six.
