IRS & Enforcement
Audit triggers, enforcement actions, compliance requirements, reporting thresholds, IRS technology changes, and taxpayer rights.
Latest in IRS & Enforcement
IRS gave Douglas County, Washington, taxpayers until February 1 to file returns and pay estimated taxes after the wildfires
Federal tax dates that fell between July 31, 2026, and January 31, 2027, now wait until February 1 for taxpayers in Douglas County, Washington. The...
IRS pushed severe-storm tax deadlines to January 7 for eligible Nebraska taxpayers
Knox County, Nebraska, is the only place named in new IRS tax relief for the severe storm that began September 9. Eligible taxpayers there now...
IRS pushed Hawaii County tax deadlines to February 1 after the earthquake, including filing and payment dates
Taxpayers in Hawaii County have until February 1, 2027, to file various federal returns and make certain tax payments after the May 22, 2026, earthquake....
Social Security now charges $75 to copy an electronic folder, $151 for a paper folder and $22 for a Numident record on requests from October 1
Social Security now charges $75 to copy an electronic folder, $151 for a paper folder and $22 for a Numident record, the computer extract of...
The IRS pushed deadlines to February 1 for eight Mississippi counties hit by Tropical Storm Arthur
A Mississippi taxpayer with a valid extension on a 2025 return now has until February 1, 2027, to file. A taxpayer who owed tax on...
The IRS pushed tax deadlines to February 1 for six Washington wildfire counties
A Washington taxpayer’s first question after the IRS postponed deadlines to February 1, 2027, is where the agency has the address on file. Taxpayers in...
The White House says the average senior is expected to pay no federal tax on Social Security, but the IRS says the law gives people 65 and older a $6,000 deduction that phases out above $75,000
A White House release dated October 19 carries a bullet labeled “No Tax on Social Security.” It says the average senior is expected to owe...
A Treasury watchdog says IRS nonfilers reached 14.7 million for tax year 2022, with $15.7 billion in potential tax stuck in a notice hold
A Treasury Department watchdog counts 14.7 million nonfilers for tax year 2022, people who did not file a required federal return on time. That is...
The IRS says disaster victims can get free tax return transcripts online and have copy fees waived by writing the disaster’s name across the top of Form 4506
People who lose tax records in a flood, fire or storm can get their past returns back without paying the IRS. Free return transcripts are...
The IRS will automatically waive failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties for taxpayers with three clean years, starting with 2025 returns and replacing First Time Abate for returns due in 2027
The IRS has begun an automatic penalty relief program that waives failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties for taxpayers with three clean years behind them. It applies...
The IRS says people who have not filed a tax return in more than six years may need a different way to pay than its free Direct Pay tool
The IRS says taxpayers who have never filed a tax return, or who have not filed in more than six years, may need to use...
TIGTA says resolving IRS identity theft cases is long, costly and frustrating for taxpayers
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the IRS watchdog known as TIGTA, says taxpayers waited 20 months on average from fiscal 2023 through fiscal...
A Long Island tax preparer who charged an undercover federal agent $2,200 to claim a refund of over $14,243 was sentenced to 48 months
A federal judge sentenced Damaris Beltre, a 59-year-old tax preparer from Freeport, New York, to 48 months in prison on October 8 and ordered her...
The Senate passed a bill waiving IRS payment-plan fees for lower-income taxpayers
The Senate passed a bill on September 30 that would waive the IRS fee for setting up a payment plan for taxpayers whose adjusted gross...
The IRS extended the livestock replacement period beyond four years for farmers in 49 states forced to sell by drought, in Notice 2026-54
Farmers and ranchers in 49 states who sold breeding, dairy or draft animals because of drought now have more than four years to buy replacements...
The IRS set October 15 as the last day to file a 2025 return on extension, and its Free File service is still open for those returns
October 15, 2026 is the last day to file a 2025 federal return on extension, and the IRS says its Free File program remains available...
Thirty states have opted into the federal scholarship tax credit Treasury and the IRS announced on October 1, and all fifty are being encouraged to join
Thirty states had opted into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit by the time Treasury and the IRS announced the program’s first implementing rules on...
Taxpayers who took an extension on their 2025 return have until October 15 to file
Ten days remain before October 15, 2026, the date the IRS gives taxpayers who requested an extension to file a 2025 return without late-filing penalties,...
Social Security’s watchdog found 54 of 175 sampled refund offsets against old childhood benefit debts were handled against policy, and the agency agreed to five fixes
Social Security’s own inspector general has found that 54 of 175 sampled cases selected for tax refund offsets were not handled in line with agency...
The IRS opened volunteer recruiting on Oct. 1 for the free program that filed 2.9 million returns
The Internal Revenue Service announced on Oct. 1 that it is recruiting volunteers and community partners for VITA and Tax Counseling for the Elderly, the...