Originally published on 1/20/26

A recent report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) reveals that more than 2,000 Americans were mistakenly left out of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) pandemic-era relief program, and the IRS now owes these citizens money. To learn more about this news and to find out if you have cash headed your way, keep reading.

What to know about the new IRS pandemic refund

During the 2020 and 2021 tax seasons, many Americans weren’t able to pay their taxes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of that, the IRS decided to waive all of their failure-to-pay (FTP) penalties—a .5 percent interest charge that’s added to unpaid taxes every month. But not everyone felt the effects due to how backed up the organization’s administrative system was at the time. 

To make up for it, the IRS announced in December of 2023 that it would be reimbursing nearly 5 million individuals, businesses, trusts, tax-exempt organizations and estates for the nonwaived fees as a part of their new FTP penalty relief program. But according to TIGTA, 2,138 taxpayers who were eligible to get those reimbursements didn’t, meaning the IRS still owes them money. 

“Of the 4.9 million eligible taxpayers who received penalty relief, 3.6 million have taken steps to resolve their outstanding balance. The IRS issued letters from January 2024 through March 2024 that notified the remaining 1.3 million taxpayers that normal collection operations would resume beginning April 2024. The letter provided the taxpayer with the amount owed, including penalties and interest, and options for paying the outstanding balance,” the TIGTA statement reads. “However, we identified approximately 2,100 taxpayers who were potentially eligible for the FTP penalty relief, but their tax accounts were not marked as eligible as of April 2024. Collectively, we estimate these taxpayers are potentially entitled to more than $463,000 in FTP penalty relief.” 

How to check if you’re eligible for the new IRS pandemic refund

To see if you are one of the 2,138 taxpayers owed money, simply look at your tax returns from 2020 and 2021. If you owed $100,000 or less in taxes but weren’t able to pay and filed a Form 1040, the IRS should have sent you an initial “Balance Due” notice (usually a CP14 or CP161 notice) between February 5, 2022 and December 7, 2023. If you didn’t receive the notice you can call the IRS at (844) 545-5640 and tell them you met the requirements for FTP penalty relief, but never got a notice. From there, the organization should be able to help to figure out where the notice went and how you can get another one. 

If you’re eligible for a refund, you’ll receive it automatically. On average, most Americans will get $206, but that can vary based on your income and tax situation. 

As of publication, it’s unclear whether the refunds have been sent out, but TIGTA did say that the IRS “agreed with the recommendation and adjusted the taxpayers’ accounts to provide them with the benefit of the penalty relief,” meaning that the 2,138 affected Americans should see the money sometime soon.  

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/life/money/irs-pandemic-refund-how-to-check-if-youre-owed-money