IRS Notice Guides

Penalty relief

Request First-Time Penalty Abatement

3 min · reviewed June 15, 2026

Template, not legal or tax advice. Fill in the [bracketed] fields and act by the deadline printed on your notice — IRS deadlines (especially the 90-day Tax Court deadline) are strict. Keep a copy of everything and send by certified mail. Independent reference, not affiliated with the IRS.

First-Time Abatement (FTA) is an IRS administrative waiver that removes a failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, or failure-to-deposit penalty for a single period — if you have an otherwise clean record. It’s the easiest penalty relief to get, and it doesn’t even require a “good excuse.”

Do you qualify? Three criteria

You generally qualify for FTA if:

  1. You filed all currently required returns (or filed a valid extension), and
  2. You’ve paid, or arranged to pay (e.g., an installment agreement), any tax due, and
  3. You have no penalties for the three tax years before the year in question (a clean compliance history).

Easiest route: call

Call the number on your notice and ask for “first-time abatement” by name — agents can often apply it on the spot. If you prefer a paper trail, or it’s denied verbally, send the letter below.

The letter

[Your name]
[Address]
[City, State ZIP]
[Daytime phone]

[Date]

Internal Revenue Service
[Use the address on your penalty notice]

Re: Request for First-Time Abatement of penalty
Name: [Your name]    SSN/ITIN: [xxx-xx-1234]
Tax year / form: [year / form]    Notice date: [date]
Penalty: [failure-to-file / failure-to-pay / failure-to-deposit] - $[amount]

To whom it may concern:

I request abatement of the [penalty type] penalty of $[amount] assessed for the
period above under the IRS First-Time Abatement administrative waiver.

I meet the criteria:
  - I have filed all required returns (or valid extensions).
  - I have paid, or arranged to pay, the tax due (
    [paid in full on (date) / installment agreement dated (date)]).
  - I have no penalties assessed for the three tax years preceding this one.

Please abate the penalty and any associated interest, and confirm in writing.

Sincerely,
[Signature]
[Printed name]

How to send it

Try the phone first (fastest). If you mail it, use the address on the notice, certified mail, and keep a copy. FTA applies per penalty/period — if you have penalties across several years, FTA usually covers only the first, and you’d use reasonable cause for the rest.

Notes. Use FTA before reasonable cause when you qualify — it’s automatic and you “save” your reasonable-cause argument for years FTA can’t cover. FTA generally does not abate the estimated-tax penalty. Paying the underlying tax first stops more interest. General information, not tax advice; criteria are set by the IRS and can change.

← All letters