Form 843

What Form 843 is for, and what it isn't

Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement, lets you ask the IRS to abate (cancel an unpaid amount) or refund (return a paid amount) of certain taxes, penalties, additions to tax, interest and fees. The IRS redesigned the form and its instructions in December 2024; the current form is Rev. 12-2024 (About Form 843, reviewed 1 July 2026).

Common uses

• Removing a penalty for reasonable cause, such as serious illness, a disaster or being unable to get records.
• Asking for first-time abatement in writing, for older years or during the 2026 transition to AEP.
• Removing a penalty caused by erroneous written advice from the IRS (section 6404(f)).
• Removing interest caused by an unreasonable IRS error or delay (section 6404(e)(1)).
• Abating or refunding the trust fund recovery penalty (section 6672).
• Getting back excess Social Security, Medicare or RRTA tax withheld when the employer won’t correct it.
• Relief for taxpayers who couldn’t read and respond to a standard-print IRS notice because of a visual impairment or disability.

Do not use Form 843 to

• change or get a refund of income tax: use Form 1040-X (or 1120-X for corporations);
• fix an employer’s payroll tax filing: use Form 941-X, 943-X, 944-X or 945-X;
• claim your share of a joint refund taken for a spouse’s past-due obligations: use Form 8379;
• get back preparer or promoter penalties: use Form 6118;
• get a refund of installment agreement fees, offer in compromise fees or lien fees (the instructions bar this).

Penalties on an income tax return are fine: you check “Income” on line 4. What you can’t do is abate the income tax itself.

Phone call, letter or Form 843: which route to use

The IRS’s own advice is to follow the instructions on your notice, and to call first. “During the call, we’ll tell you if your penalty relief is approved. If we cannot approve your relief over the phone, you may request relief in writing with Form 843” (IRS: Penalty relief, reviewed 9 September 2026).

Interest charged on a penalty is reduced or removed automatically when the penalty is. The estimated tax penalty has its own relief rules and generally isn’t covered by reasonable cause. For the full picture see IRS penalty relief and first-time abatement, and for a do-it-yourself letter, our penalty abatement letter template.

How the 2026 Automatic Exemption from Penalty changes Form 843

What that means for Form 843:

• Eligible 2025 and later returns. If your original Form 1040, 1065, 1120, 940, 941, 943, 944, 945 or CT-1 for tax year 2025 (IRS.gov, 2026) or later is late, and you timely filed and paid for the prior three years (or 12 quarters), the IRS does not assess the failure-to-file, failure-to-pay or failure-to-deposit penalty at all. You get a letter saying relief was applied. No Form 843 is needed.
• Transition notices. The IRS warns that during the switch, some qualifying taxpayers may still receive penalty notices for tax year 2025 and 2026 quarterly returns. If that happens, contact the IRS to request first-time abatement. Call first; Form 843 is the written fallback.
• Years before 2025. AEP does not reach back. For those penalties, first-time abatement still has to be requested by phone, letter or Form 843.
• Penalties AEP doesn’t cover. Accuracy-related penalties, information return penalties, the trust fund recovery penalty and returns filed only for one-off events (such as estate and gift tax returns) are not in AEP. Reasonable cause on Form 843 is still the route there.
• Failure-to-pay keeps mattering. Under first-time abatement the IRS assesses the penalty first and removes it later, and the failure-to-pay penalty can keep accruing until the tax is paid. Under AEP it is never assessed. Tax and interest are still owed in both cases.

Full details: Automatic Exemption from Penalty explained.

Form 843 line by line

Based on the Form 843 PDF and the Instructions for Form 843 (December 2024).

Reason boxes at the top

Check one box for your reason. For most penalty requests it is “Abatement or refund of a penalty or addition to tax due to reasonable cause or other reason allowed under the law.” There are separate boxes for the trust fund recovery penalty, erroneous written IRS advice, interest from IRS error or delay, and the visual-impairment notice relief.

Name, number and address

Your name and SSN (or ITIN, or EIN for an entity). If the request relates to a joint return, add your spouse’s name and SSN. Add your address, the name and address on the return if different, and a daytime phone.

Lines 1-6: what you are asking about

• Line 1. The tax period, with beginning and ending dates. Use a separate Form 843 for each period.
• Line 2. The dollar amount you want refunded or abated, usually the penalty amount on your notice.
• Line 3. Only for refunds: the date of each payment you want back.
• Line 4. The type of tax the penalty or interest relates to: employment, estate, gift, excise, income, fee or civil penalty. Check one box unless an exception applies.
• Line 5. The return type, for example box i for Form 1040 (which also covers 1040-SR and 1040-NR).
• Line 6. The Internal Revenue Code section of the penalty, usually shown on your notice. For example, failure to file on a tax return is section 6651(a)(1), failure to pay is 6651(a)(2), and failure to deposit is 6656.

Line 7: your reason

Check a) interest from IRS errors or delays, b) erroneous written IRS advice, c) reasonable cause or another reason allowed by law, or d) none of these.

Line 8: your explanation

This is where requests are won or lost. Explain why the claim should be allowed and show how you computed the line 2 amount. Attach extra sheets with your name and SSN on each, plus your evidence.

Signature

Sign under penalties of perjury. For a joint return, both spouses sign. A corporate officer signs for a corporation (with title), and a fiduciary for an estate or trust. Enter your Identity Protection PIN if the IRS issued one. A paid preparer signs the preparer section; someone who helps you for free does not. A representative filing for you must attach Form 2848.

Writing a reasonable cause explanation that works

The IRS decides reasonable cause case by case. You must show you used “ordinary care and prudence” and still couldn’t file or pay on time. It lists these as reasons that may qualify:

• fires, natural disasters or civil disturbances;
• inability to get records;
• death, serious illness or unavoidable absence of you or immediate family;
• system issues that delayed a timely electronic filing or payment.

And these as reasons that generally do not qualify on their own: relying on a tax professional, not knowing the rules, mistakes and oversights, and lack of funds.

On line 8, cover three things the IRS asks for: what happened and when, how it prevented you from filing or paying, and what you did to comply once you could. Attach proof: hospital or court records or a doctor’s letter with start and end dates, disaster documentation, and copies of letters, receipts or forms.

Where to mail Form 843

The instructions list a few other specialized addresses, such as for nonresident aliens, the branded prescription drug fee and Form 8300 penalties. If you mail to an address that has changed, the IRS says the form will be forwarded.

Can you file Form 843 online?

Generally, no. As of 1 July 2026 the IRS accepts Form 843 electronically only from individuals with an IRS Online Account, and only for claims about fully paid interest and penalties that cite Kwong v. United States (IRS notice). Every other Form 843 is mailed. The IRS publishes no standard processing time for Form 843; it notifies you of its decision by letter.

Deadlines and appeals

• Refund claims. Generally you must claim a refund within 3 years from when you filed the original return or 2 years from when you paid the tax, whichever is later. Miss it and you may lose the refund.
• Erroneous written advice. The request must be made within the period allowed for collecting the penalty, or, if you paid, within the refund claim period.
• Interest abatement for IRS delay. The same 3-year/2-year rule applies. It only covers income, estate, gift and certain excise taxes, not employment taxes, and only delays after the IRS contacted you in writing.
• If you are turned down. For failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties, you generally have 30 days from the date of the rejection letter to ask the IRS Independent Office of Appeals for a conference (IRS: Penalty appeal). The letter states your exact deadline.

Common Form 843 mistakes

1. Filing before calling. Many penalties can be removed in one phone call; Form 843 can take much longer.
2. Using Form 843 to dispute income tax. The IRS will not process it; use Form 1040-X or respond to the audit or notice.
3. Several years on one form. File a separate Form 843 for each tax period, except in the special situations the instructions allow.
4. Checking more than one reason box at the top of the form.
5. Leaving line 6 blank. Copy the code section from your notice.
6. A vague line 8. “I had a hard year” won’t work. Give dates, facts and documents.
7. Blaming your preparer or lack of money alone. The IRS says neither is generally reasonable cause by itself.
8. A missing spouse’s signature on a joint-return request, or no Form 2848 when a representative signs.
9. Filing for a 2025 return when AEP already applied. Check your notices first; if you received an AEP letter, there is nothing to abate.

How to request penalty abatement with Form 843, step by step

1. Read the notice. Find the penalty, the tax period, the amount and the code section, and check whether AEP already applied.
2. Call first. Call the number on the notice and ask for first-time abatement or reasonable cause relief, with documents ready.
3. Download Form 843. If the phone request is denied or not possible, get the current form from IRS.gov.
4. Complete lines 1-7. Check one reason box, and fill in the period, amount, payment dates (refunds only), tax type, return type, code section and reason.
5. Write line 8. Explain what happened and when, how it stopped you complying, and what you did next; attach proof.
6. Sign and mail. Both spouses sign for a joint return; mail it to the notice’s return address or the correct service center, and keep a copy.
7. Follow up. Watch for the IRS decision letter and appeal within the deadline it gives if you are turned down.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading in the Fresh Start hub

• IRS penalty relief and first-time abatementEvery penalty relief route and who qualifies.
• Automatic Exemption from PenaltyThe 2026 automatic replacement for first-time abatement.
• Fresh Start forms libraryEvery IRS form used under Fresh Start.
• How to apply for Fresh Start reliefWhere penalty relief fits in the five steps.
• Fresh Start key figures for 2026Penalty rates, fees and limits with IRS sources.