IRS may owe you a refund for coronavirus-era fines. Here's how to applyIRS may owe you a refund for coronavirus-era fines. Here's how to apply

Nbcwashington · May 07, 2026 · 552 words · By Fatima Hussein; The Associated Press

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What to know about IRS may owe you a refund for coronavirus-era fines. Here's how to applyIRS may owe you a refund for coronavirus-era fines. Here's how to apply

Tens of millions of taxpayers who were penalized by the IRS during the coronavirus pandemic for failing to pay their taxes or filing late may qualify for a refund or termination of the penalties they incurred during that period.

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

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Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

However, the relief is not automatic or guaranteed, and most taxpayers need to file a claim for a refund or abatement of their tax liability by July 10 to get their money back.

Common ground

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Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: IRS may owe you a refund for coronavirus-era fines. Here's how to applyIRS may owe you a refund for coronavirus-era fines. Here's how to apply?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that According to the IRS, for people who received a penalty during the pandemic, the form must be mailed to the service center where they would be required to file a current year tax return?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/irs-may-owe-you-refund…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

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info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “According to the IRS, for people who received a penalty during the pandemic, the form must be mailed to the service center where they would be required to file a current year tax return”

VERIFIED

IRS guidance on 'Where to file' for Form 843 specifies that the form should be mailed to the service center where the taxpayer files their current year return.

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web search NEUTRAL — Mailing addresses for Form 843. If you are filing Form 843 ... Then mail the form to … In response to an IRS notice regarding a tax or fee related to certain taxes such as income, employment, gift, es…
https://www.irs.gov/filing/where-to-file-for-form-843

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web search NEUTRAL — Where to Send IRS Form 843 This Year.Internal Revenue Service Center. Ogden, UT 84201-0038. Required immigration tax documents for Form 843 filing - where to mail irs form 843. When filing for this re…
https://scltaxlaw.com/where-to-send-irs-form-843-this-year/

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web search NEUTRAL — If the IRS charged you late fees, failure-to-pay penalties, or accrued interest anytime during that three-and-a-half-year window, you overpaid. The National Taxpayer Advocate is now urging Americans t…
https://www.acesetsecurities.com/irs-covid-refund-claim-guid…

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Claim 2: “The IRS had assessed more than 120 million penalties against tens of millions of taxpayers for filing late returns, failing to pay taxes or failing to make required estimated tax payments between January 2020 and July 11, 2023”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web sources provide the exact figure of 'more than 120 million penalties' assessed between January 2020 and July 11, 2023.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation, incorporated in 1982, which owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard and licenses their use. C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Spiritual_Technology

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Gavin Kliger is an American software engineer and government official, currently serving as Chief Data Officer at the U.S. Department of War. A 2020 graduate of UC Berkeley in electrical engineering a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavin_Kliger

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service of the U.S. federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Revenue_Service

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “most taxpayers need to file a claim for a refund or abatement of their tax liability by July 10 to get their money back”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web sources explicitly mention the July 10, 2026 deadline for filing claims for refund and abatement related to COVID-19 penalties.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the United States federal law enforcement agency responsible for investigating potential criminal violations of the U.S. Internal Revenue C…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_Criminal_Investigation

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In 2013, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), under the Obama administration, revealed that it had selected political groups applying for tax-exempt status for intensive scrutiny based on…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IRS_targeting_controversy

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “The case, called Kwong v. U.S., decided that COVID-19 emergency laws extended the deadline to file and that the IRS owes penalty payments to taxpayers”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources identify the case as Kwong v. U.S. and state that it decided COVID-19 emergency laws extended deadlines and that the IRS owes penalty payments.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mass General Brigham Inc. (MGB, formerly Partners HealthCare) is a not-for-profit, integrated health system based in Greater Boston. It operates two academic medical centers—Massachusetts General Hosp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_General_Brigham

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Robert Mueller special counsel investigation was a criminal investigation into associates of 45th U.S. president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin regarding Russian interference in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mueller_special_counsel_invest…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. They have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, as well as other regions of the Chinese diaspora, especiall…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Americans

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “Ken Kies, assistant secretary at the Treasury Department, told The Associated Press that President Donald Trump's Republican administration believes that Kwong “was wrongly decided”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for claim 4 contains general information about the Treasury Department and TreasuryDirect, but does not mention Ken Kies or his specific comments regarding the Kwong case.

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web search NEUTRAL — The treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system, collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, manages U.S. government debt, licenses and supervises banks a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_th…

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web search NEUTRAL — On a daily basis, Treasury publishes Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates, Treasury Par Real Yield Curve Rates, Treasury Bill Rates, Treasury Long-Term Rates and Extrapolation Factors, and Treasury Real Lon…
https://home.treasury.gov/

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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · Buy or Gift a Savings Bond Cash In a Savings Bond Find the Value of My Bond Search for Treasury Securities Manage Savings Bonds Today’s Rates Series EE Savings Bonds
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/

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Claim 6: “people will need to fill out Form 843, which can be found on the IRS website, and send it through snail mail”

VERIFIED

Official IRS instructions for Form 843 confirm it is the correct form to claim a refund or request an abatement of penalties.

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web search NEUTRAL — Learn how to use IRS Form 843 to request penalty abatement, limited interest relief, and excess FICA refunds. See deadlines, where to file, and Line 8 examples.
https://accountably.com/irs-forms/f843/

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web search NEUTRAL — Purpose of Form Use Form 843 to claim a refund or request an abatement of certain taxes, penalties, additions to tax, interest, and fees. Do not use Form 843 to request an abatement of income, estate,…
https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i843

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web search NEUTRAL — Form 843 is used to request refunds or abatement of penalties, interest, and certain tax overcharges. Here is how and when to use it.
https://smartasset.com/taxes/irs-form-843

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Claim 7: “a federal court late last year ruled that taxpayers were not required to file their taxes on time during COVID-19”

CORROBORATED

Web results discuss a court ruling (Kwong v. U.S.) that determined the IRS improperly charged penalties during the pandemic, effectively ruling that deadlines were extended.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Starting in January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The global COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an outbreak in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case of COVID-19 was reported on January 20, and Health and Human Services Secretary Al…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_Unite…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “People eligible for a potential refund or abatement are those who filed a tax return late between Jan. 20, 2020, and July 11, 2023; paid penalties for filing or paying late during that period; owed IRS penalties even if they have not paid them; or filed an international information return late”

CORROBORATED

Web results confirm that eligibility for these refunds relates to those who paid failure-to-file or failure-to-pay penalties during the 2020-2023 period.

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web search NEUTRAL — Some taxpayers may still be able to claim pandemic-era penalties and interest. But eligibility is limited and timing matters.
https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/irs-pandemic-penalty-refunds…

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web search NEUTRAL — Millions may qualify for refunds on COVID-era penalties and interest. Learn how to claim yours and why you must act before the July 10, 2026 deadline.
https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/nta-blog/tens-of-m…

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web search NEUTRAL — Can I get an IRS penalty refund due to COVID-19? Yes. A landmark court decision, Kwong v. United States, ruled that the IRS improperly charged penalties and interest during the COVID-19 pandemic. If y…
https://miltonlawgroup.com/2026/03/27/irs-refunds-kwong-deci…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.