IRS.GOV - The Internal Revenue Service is automatically waiving the estimated tax penalty for the more than 400,000 eligible taxpayers who already filed their 2018 federal income tax returns but did not claim the waiver.
The IRS will apply this waiver to tax accounts of all eligible taxpayers, so there is no need to contact the IRS to apply for or request the waiver.
Earlier this year, the IRS lowered the usual 90% penalty threshold to 80% to help taxpayers whose withholding and estimated tax payments fell short of their total 2018 tax liability. The agency also removed the requirement that estimated tax payments be made in four equal installments, as long as they were all made by January 15, 2019. The 90% threshold was initially lowered to 85% on January 16 and further lowered to 80% on March 22.
The automatic waiver applies to any individual taxpayer who paid at least 80% of their total tax liability through federal income tax withholding or quarterly estimated tax payments but did not claim the special waiver available to them when they filed their 2018 return earlier this year.
"The IRS is taking this step to help affected taxpayers," said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. "This waiver is designed to provide relief to any person who filed too early to take advantage of the waiver or was unaware of it when they filed."
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