COVID IRS Penalty Refund Guides — Forms, Tax Years, and Penalty Types
TL;DR
Find the COVID-era penalty refund guide that matches your situation. Pick by the IRS form that received the penalty, the tax year of the assessment, or the type of penalty charged. Each guide explains how the November 2025 Kwong v. United States ruling and IRC § 7508A(d) apply to that specific scenario, and what to file by July 10, 2026. All guides are written by Kenneth Dettman, CPA, and reflect the pending federal appeal of Kwong.
Start with the cornerstone
The IRS may owe you money from COVID — file by July 10, 2026: the cornerstone explainer covering the ruling, the deadline, what filing now preserves, and who may qualify. Read this first if you're new to the topic.
By IRS form
If you know which form the penalty was assessed on, jump straight to its guide.
Individual and partnership returns
- Form 1040 — individual income tax
- Form 1040-X — amended individual return
- Form 1065 — partnership return
Corporate and S-corp returns
Payroll and employment returns
- Form 940 — federal unemployment tax
- Form 941 — quarterly payroll tax
- Form 943 — agricultural payroll tax
- Form 944 — annual payroll tax
Information returns
International information returns
- Form 8938 — specified foreign financial assets
- Form 5471 — information return of U.S. persons with respect to certain foreign corporations
- Form 5472 — information return of foreign-owned U.S. corporation
By tax year
The COVID-19 federally declared disaster window covers tax years 2019 through 2021 most directly. Penalties assessed in 2022 and 2023 may also qualify under specific circumstances.
By penalty type
Each IRS penalty is its own assessment with its own statutory basis. The Kwong analysis differs by type — pick the one matching the transaction code on your IRS account transcript.
- Failure-to-file penalty (IRC § 6651(a)(1))
- Failure-to-pay penalty (IRC § 6651(a)(2))
- Estimated tax penalty (IRC § 6654)
- Underpayment interest
- International information return penalties
Legal context
Every guide above is written against the same underlying legal framework. If you want the deep background:
- Kwong v. United States, Explained — the November 2025 Court of Federal Claims ruling.
- Loper Bright + Kwong — how the June 2024 Supreme Court decision strengthens the Kwong reading.
- Failure-to-file vs failure-to-pay — why each penalty type is analyzed separately.
- How to read your IRS account transcript — find the transaction codes that matter.
- Form 843 protective claim wording — what to put on the actual filing.
Quick reference
- Glossary — every term defined in plain English.
- Timeline — chronological walk-through from 2019 to July 10, 2026.
- All guides hub — the full library of COVID refund content.
- Free eligibility check — pull your transcript, identify in-window penalties. No upfront cost. No win, no fee.
Find out if you qualify
Run the free eligibility check to pull your IRS account transcript and identify any in-window penalty assessments. We file the protective Form 843 claim on a no-win, no-fee basis. Start free eligibility check →