Missed the Kwong deadline? Three paths are still open.
The protective-claim window under Kwong v. United States closed on July 10, 2026. That date bound refund claims for penalties and interest your clients already paid from the January 20, 2020 to July 10, 2023 disaster period. It did not close every door.
1. Unpaid penalties: request abatement
If the IRS assessed a failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalty during the disaster period and your client never paid it, the request is an abatement, not a refund. The three-year refund deadline that ran out on July 10, 2026 applies to money already paid. File Form 843 to request abatement of the unpaid balance.
2. Recent payments: the two-year lookback
A refund claim is timely for amounts paid within the two years before the claim is filed (IRC §6511(a)). Clients on installment agreements, or clients who paid COVID-era penalties and interest in the last two years, may still claim those payments. Pull the account transcript, list every payment date, and claim the payments that fall inside the two-year window.
3. Claims already filed: track them
The government has appealed the Kwong ruling. The IRS generally holds a protective claim in suspense until the outside issue is resolved. The National Taxpayer Advocate has asked the IRS to extend relief to all affected taxpayers if Kwong is upheld, including taxpayers who never filed a claim. Keep a record of every protective claim you filed, its mailing date, and the penalty periods it covers, so you can follow up when the appeal is decided.
Outside Kwong: standard penalty abatement
First-Time Abatement, reasonable cause, and IRS error remain available for penalties from any tax year. TaxClaim Pro generates the Form 843 for each.
Sources
This page is educational only and is not legal or tax advice. Refund and abatement rules depend on each taxpayer's facts. Confirm the statute for each claim before filing.