Form 944 (Annual Small Employer) COVID Penalty Refund

Small employers approved by the IRS to file Form 944 annually (instead of 941 quarterly), assessed late-filing or late-payment penalties during Jan 20, 2020 – July 10, 2023, may be eligible for refunds under Kwong. File Form 843 by July 10, 2026. Refund eligibility is not guaranteed; Kwong is being appealed.

Who qualifies

Form 944 is the annual employer return for small businesses with under approximately $1,000 in annual employment tax liability who have been notified by the IRS to file Form 944 instead of quarterly Form 941. Penalties assessed on Form 944 filings during the disaster window may be eligible. The 2020, 2021, and 2022 returns (each due Jan 31 of the following year) all fall inside the window.

• You received an IRS notice authorizing Form 944 filing (instead of 941) for the affected year.
• Employer account transcript shows a Form 944 penalty assessment dated between Jan 20, 2020 and July 10, 2023.
• Penalties may include §6651 failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, or §6656 failure-to-deposit.

How much could I get back?

Form 944 filers are by definition small employers, so individual refund amounts tend to be modest — typically a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars per affected year. Multiple-year claims compound. Refund eligibility and amounts cannot be guaranteed.

Why this specifically

Small employers filing Form 944 are exactly the population the National Taxpayer Advocate flagged as least likely to claim Kwong-based refunds — they typically don't have professional tax representation. Even modest refunds matter at this scale.

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