Bradenton Penalty Abatement Attorney

Bradenton Penalty Abatement Lawyer

When emergencies in your life or in the world prevent you from meeting your tax obligations, you may be able to have them removed. A Bradenton penalty abatement attorney can help you secure penalty abatement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) when something outside of your control affects you, or it is your first penalty.

Navigating Penalty Abatement Cases With TaxSmith, LLC

It can be frustrating when you are penalized by the IRS. You should never ignore penalties assessed by the IRS, as they only grow with time. Instead, get the help of the skilled team at TaxSmith, LLC. Our law firm has served Floridian taxpayers for more than a decade.

Tax issues can be stressful, but we know how to effectively navigate them. Your financial and personal situation is unique, and your tax solution should be, too. Our team knows how penalty abatement laws affect individual and business taxpayers. We have experience negotiating tax debt. We also have experience dealing with the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center office located in Sarasota.

The Basics of Penalty Abatement

As an individual or business taxpayer, you have an obligation to make accurate tax payments on time. If you don’t meet these responsibilities, the IRS can assess penalties. These penalties may be for late payments, bounced checks, accuracy issues, failure to make estimated payments, and more.

Penalty abatement is a way of forgiving certain penalties and the interest they accrued. However, there are only specific circumstances where taxpayers can secure this forgiveness. The primary reasons that you can get penalty abatement include:

1. First-time penalty abatement, if you have good tax compliance and have had no assessed penalties in a certain period of time
2. Reasonable cause, if something outside your control prevented you from meeting your tax obligation

It is up to the discretion of the IRS whether or not your unique situation will allow for penalty abatement. In 2024, the IRS abated nearly 6.5 million civil penalties, which totaled more than $75.2 billion. Of these, 4.9 million penalty abatements were for individual, trust, and estate income taxes, which totaled over $32.7 billion. The agency also abated nearly 592,000 civil employment tax penalties, totaling more than $23.3 billion.

If you owe both back taxes and penalties, penalty abatement does not forgive the back taxes. You are still liable for paying back the initial tax liability. However, penalty abatement can still substantially lower your liability, especially when you have significant penalties and interest.

Even if the IRS denies your request to abate a penalty, you can appeal this choice. There were 4,100 appeals for penalty cases in the same year. When you work with a Bradenton penalty abatement lawyer, they can help you with everything from your initial request to the appeals process.

What Is a Basis for Reasonable Cause Penalty Abatement?

There are many different circumstances that might prevent you from meeting your tax responsibilities that are considered reasonable cause. The IRS determines if your situation qualifies for penalty abatement on its own merits.

The reasonable cause also depends on the type of penalty. For failure to file or failure to pay penalties, the IRS considers whether you used ordinary care and prudence. Reasonable cause might include:

• A fire or other natural disaster
• The inability to secure records
• A civil disturbance
• Serious illness or unavoidable absence, like incarceration
• Serious illness, death, or unavoidable absence of a close family member
• IRS filing system errors that delayed a payment

Accuracy-related penalties may be forgiven if you acted in good faith. The IRS reviews whether you tried to report the accurate tax and how complex the issue was. For information return penalties, you may need to prove you acted in a responsible manner and that there were factors beyond your control, such as:

• Access to records
• Economic hardships
• Actions of the IRS or an agent
• Actions of another person

It is very important and beneficial to hire a penalty abatement attorney in Bradenton. They can help you determine whether you have reasonable cause for penalty abatement.

FAQs About Bradenton Penalty Abatement Law

What Is a Good Reasonable Cause for Penalty Abatement?

What is considered a good, reasonable cause to have a penalty abated relies on your circumstances and the type of penalty you are requesting abatement for. A late tax payment penalty might be abated for a severe illness or death in the family. A penalty for insufficient documentation may be abated if you tried to get the documentation, but a disaster or other issues prevented you from securing it.

What Is Penalty Abatement in Florida?

Penalty abatement in Florida is a process where taxpayers can request the removal of specific penalties and their interest. It may be under a first-time penalty abatement. Taxpayers can also request an abatement when they provide proof that they tried to comply with their obligations, but outside factors stopped them from doing so. This is called reasonable cause.

Penalty abatement helps reduce the total tax liability a taxpayer owes, which can make it more feasible to pay their debt.

How Do I Request My First Penalty Abatement?

To request your first penalty abatement, you may be able to call the IRS, although some penalties require you to file a form. The IRS will automatically check if you qualify for first-time penalty abatement, which means reviewing if you have a history of good tax compliance.

If you qualify, the IRS applies this abatement. If you don’t, you must prove a reasonable cause for the penalty. This requires documentation, such as of a natural disaster, hospitalization, or case documents.

How Long Does Penalty Abatement Take?

The time penalty abatement takes varies in each case. It may take days or months. If you are requesting first-time penalty abatement, this may be easier and quicker because the IRS only has to check your compliance history to determine if you qualify. Reasonable cause abatement could take longer because you must prove why circumstances were outside your control, and the IRS must review this documentation to determine if you qualify or not.

Hire a Penalty Abatement Attorney in Bradenton

At TaxSmith, LLC, we can help you find the most helpful resolution to your tax debt. Contact our firm today to schedule a consultation.