IRS Expands Penalty Relief if Payments Fell Short in 2018

Posted April 2019

The IRS recently provided additional, expanded penalty relief to individual taxpayers whose 2018 federal income tax withholding and estimated tax payments fell short of their total tax liability for the year by lowering to 80 percent the threshold required to qualify for this relief. The IRS is now waiving the estimated tax penalty for any taxpayer who paid at least 80 percent of their total 2018 tax liability during the year through federal income tax withholding, quarterly estimated tax payments, or a combination of the two.

The IRS has available a Paycheck Checkup tool to review 2019 withholdings at https://www.irs.gov/paycheck-checkup.  Additionally, an updated Withholding Calculator is available on the IRS website at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/irs-withholding-calculator.