Penalty Abatement

Penalty & Interest Abatement: How Mike Habib, EA Can Help You Resolve IRS Tax Issues

July 18, 2025 | Mike Habib, EA

Dealing with IRS penalties and interest can be one of the most stressful experiences for taxpayers. Whether you’re an individual or a business owner, the accumulation of penalties and interest on unpaid taxes can quickly spiral out of control, leaving you overwhelmed and financially strained. Fortunately, the IRS provides options for penalty and interest abatement under certain circumstances, and retaining the services of a trusted tax representation firm like Mike Habib, EA can make all the difference in successfully navigating this process.

In this article, we’ll explore what penalty and interest abatement entails, the eligibility criteria, and how Mike Habib, EA can assist taxpayers in reducing or eliminating these burdens. We’ll also discuss the benefits of working with a licensed Enrolled Agent (EA) and why professional representation is essential when dealing with the IRS.

IRS tax penalties – how to abate them

May 3, 2019 | Mike Habib, EA

— This is a technical and educational piece —

The IRS consistently assesses different type of penalties. In 2017 the IRS assessed nearly 39 million civil penalties totaling roughly $26.5 billion, the IRS abated 4 million civil penalties totaling $12.6 billion. More than 80% of civil penalties were assessed against individuals, estates, and trusts for income taxes.

Taxpayers asking why me, why more penalties, and can I get rid of them or abate them?

Purpose of tax penalties: Penalties exist to encourage voluntary compliance by supporting the standards of behavior required by the tax code. I.R.M., pt. 20.1.1.2 (Nov. 21, 2017)

Penalty Abatement – All You Wanted to Know About Penalty Abatement

February 8, 2018 | Mike Habib, EA

Penalty abatement is a form of tax debt relief you can avail to significantly reduce the total taxes you owe the IRS.

What is Penalty Abatement?

If you have a tax debt, the IRS will calculate and add penalties & interest on the amount owed. The penalties include a ‘failure to file’ penalty if you have failed to file your returns on time (including extensions), a ‘failure to pay’ penalty if the tax amount has not been paid in full and which is calculated on the basis of the amount you owe. These two penalties are charged on a monthly basis for the entire period until resolution. Further the IRS charges a daily interest on the tax amount you owe. All in all, the each penalty may contribute up to 25% of your total tax bill.

If your failure to pay taxes has been due to financial difficulties, such difficulties are further compounded by the penalties, which continuously keep adding to the total tax debt. So penalty abatement is an option you should definitely consider to achieve some degree of tax debt relief. As professional enrolled agent, Mike Habib is a tax relief expert and can guide you in this matter if you do not feel confident enough to handle it on your own.

Get a free evaluation of your case at 877-788-2937.

Is a taxpayer that fails to file or pay payroll taxes subject to penalty?

November 3, 2013 | Mike Habib, EA

The taxpayer may be subject to several different penalties.

Failure to File
If a taxpayer fails to file on the date the return should have been filed (determined with regard to any extension of time for filing) the taxpayer will be subject to a failure to file penalty unless it is shown that the failure to file a return is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect. This penalty is 5% of the net amount of tax due for each month (or fraction thereof) during which there is a failure to file any return, up to a maximum penalty of 25%. If the return is not filed within 60 days of the due date, the minimum penalty will be the lesser of $135 or 100% of the tax liability on the return (even if there are no unpaid taxes when the return is filed).

If both the “failure to file” and the “failure to pay” penalties apply for the same period, the failure to file penalty (5%) is reduced by the failure to pay penalty (0.5%). This generally results in a 4.5% per month failure to file penalty and a 0.5% per month failure to pay penalty.

Payroll tax penalty problem? How a taxpayer show reasonable cause to excuse the penalty for failure to file or pay payroll taxes?

May 22, 2013 | Mike Habib, EA

Are you a business owner or an officer facing a 941 payroll or employment tax problem?

Unpaid payroll or employment tax is a serious tax matter, and the IRS holds the business owner, officers and other personnel as responsible person(s) and actively enforce aggressive collection measures to collect on the unpaid back taxes, penalties and interest.

For the IRS to excuse the penalty for failing to file, the taxpayer must show that such failure was due to reasonable cause. A taxpayer can show reasonable cause by proving that he or she “exercised ordinary business care and prudence and was nevertheless unable to file the return within the prescribed time” (see Reg. §301.6651-1(c)(1)). This standard is objective and will be determined by analyzing all the facts and circumstances.

All You Wanted to Know About Penalty Abatement

February 10, 2012 | Mike Habib, EA

Penalty abatement is a form of tax debt relief you can avail to significantly reduce the total tax you owe to the IRS.

What is Penalty Abatement?
If you have a tax debt, the IRS will calculate penalties and interest on the amount owed. The penalties include a ‘failure to file’ penalty if you have failed to file your returns on time (including extensions), a ‘failure to pay’ penalty if the tax amount has not been paid in full and which is calculated on the basis of the amount you owe. These two penalties are charged on a monthly basis for the entire period until resolution. Further the IRS charges a daily interest on the tax amount you owe. All in all, the each penalty may contribute up to 25% of your total tax bill.

If your failure to pay taxes has been due to financial difficulties, such difficulties are further compounded by the penalties, which continuously keep adding to the total tax debt. So penalty abatement is an option you should definitely consider to achieve some degree of tax debt relief. As professional enrolled agent, Mike Habib can guide you in this matter if you do not feel confident enough to handle it on your own.

Tax resolution services by Mike Habib, EA 877-788-2937

March 16, 2011 | Mike Habib, EA

You recently asked what will happen and what you should do in the event that you cannot pay your taxes on time. First and most importantly, don’t let your inability to pay your tax liability in full keep you from filing your tax return properly and on time. It is also important to remember that an extension of time to file your tax return doesn’t also extend the time to pay your tax bill. Get tax resolution services at 877-788-2937.

Even if you can’t make full payment of your liabilities, timely filing your return and making the largest partial payment you can will save you substantial amounts in interest and penalties. Additionally, there are procedures for requesting payment extensions and installment payment arrangements which will keep the IRS from instituting its collection process (liens, property seizures, etc.) against you. Get tax resolution services at 877-788-2937.

Overview of the most common penalties. The “failure to file” penalty accrues at the rate of 5% per month or part of a month (to a maximum of 25%, reached after five months) on the amount of tax your return should show you owe. The “failure to pay” penalty is gentler, accruing at the rate of only 0.5% per month or part of a month (to a maximum of 25% reached after fifty months) on the amount actually shown as due on the return. If both apply, the failure to file penalty drops to 4.5% per month, so the total combined penalty remains at 5%–thus, the maximum combined penalty for the first five months is 25%. Thereafter, the failure to pay penalty can continue at 0.5% per month for 45 more months, yielding an additional 22.5%. In total, these combined penalties can reach 47.5% of your unpaid liability in less than five years.

BBB “A” rated tax relief company by Mike Habib, EA

February 24, 2011 | Mike Habib, EA

Mike Habib is an IRS licensed Enrolled Agent who focuses his tax practice on helping his clients resolve their tax controversy matters. His tax relief firm is rated “A” by the better business bureau, which is quite rare for this industry as many are rated “F” or already ceased business operations like American Tax Relief and Nationwide Tax Relief and possibly many more to come.

Do you have IRS tax problems?

Don’t procrastinate anymore; call Mike Habib at 877-788-2937 for a free analysis of your tax situation. There are solutions to your tax problems.

IRS Tax Audits: Payroll Tax Audit: Colleges IRS Audit

November 1, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Employment and Payroll Tax Audit & Examination:

The IRS announced its plan to audit the first 6,000 employment tax audits and small business will be their audit target. The IRS will start examining 2,000 companies every year over the next 3 years.

The IRS will utilize its audit findings to target a select group of businesses and aggressively audit their payroll tax and refine estimates to close the tax gap. IRS audit agents are specially trained to audit employment and payroll tax for the audited businesses.

AVOIDING IRS TAX PENALTIES: TAXPAYERS BEWARE Part 2

August 10, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Part 2 of 2

• Dishonored Check – A penalty is charged if a taxpayer’s check is returned because of insufficient funds. For checks of $1,250 or more, the penalty is 2% of the check amount. For checks less than $1,250, the penalty is the lesser of $25 or the amount of the check.

• Paying Late – The penalty is ½% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month the tax is unpaid. If the IRS issues a Notice of Intent to Levy and the taxpayer does not pay the balance within 10 days, the penalty increases to 1% per month. The penalty cannot be more than 25% of the tax paid late. The late payment penalty is reduced to ¼% per month for those paying in installments.