top of page

Penalty Abatement and Refunds

The IRS considers penalties to be revenue, and the IRS can be aggressive in asserting and assessing penalties to raise revenue. Aggressive government penalty assessments require legal strategy and persuasion to convince the IRS to reverse or abate penalties. In some cases, the government will not fully abate or refund penalties, but Dan knows the playing field and understands the various options to resolve penalty disputes on the most beneficial terms possible. Dan’s government background—including his experience training auditors, appeals officers with the Independent Office of Appeals, and many Chief Counsel attorneys—helps him frame the facts and arguments to help government officials understand the unique facts of each and every case.

 

Even if your CPA or another attorney told you that an abatement request is impossible, if you have significant penalty assessments, talk to Dan about possible strategies. Even for seemingly impossible penalties like the failure to file penalty under I.R.C. § 6651(a)(1), there may be strategies available to eliminate your some or all of your penalty!

​

Dan’s international tax and FBAR experience can help you in your penalty abatement case involving the following international reporting forms:

  • Form 926, Return by a U.S. Transferor of Property to a Foreign Corporation

  • Form 3520-A, Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust with a U.S. Owner

  • Form 3520, Annual Return to Report Transactions with Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts

  • Form 5471, Information Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations

  • Form 5472, Information Return of a 25%  Foreign-Owned U.S. Corporation or a Foreign Corporation Engaged in U.S. Trade or Business

  • Form 8621, Information Return by a Shareholder of a Passive Foreign Investment Company or Qualified Electing Fund

  • Form 8854, Initial Expatriation Statement

  • Form 8858, Information Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Foreign Disregarded Entities (FDEs) and Foreign Branches (FBs)

  • Form 8865, Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships

  • Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets

  • FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)

 

Penalty Resources:

  • IRS training slides about reasonable cause: The IRS released these slides pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request in May 2023. These slides are excerpts from training sessions to IRS Independent Office of Appeals personnel. The slides show the IRS' thinking about reasonable cause and favorite court cases cited by IRS personnel on the topic. 

  • IRS training slides on international penalties, mitigation, and more: The IRS released these slides pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request in September 2022. These slides include training sessions to IRS Independent Office of Appeals personnel focusing on international penalties. 

bottom of page