Failure to file penalty: the cost of each month a return is late
Type the tax that was not paid by the due date and how many days late the return was filed. The result counts the months the IRS charges, applies the offset for the late payment penalty and checks whether the minimum penalty takes over.
- Rate per month or part of a month
- 5 %
- Ceiling
- 25 % after 5 months
- Minimum, returns due in 2026, over 60 days late
- $525
Failure to file penalty
$558
2 months or part of a month, at most 5.
| Months counted | 2 |
| Rate after the late payment offset | 9 % |
| Late payment penalty for the same months | $62 |
| Both penalties together | $620 |
Return due April 15, 2026 (2025 tax year). Interest is extra: see the full calculator.
Compiled by Radif Partners · How we calculate · rules and rates read on irs.gov · not tax advice, the IRS decides
The failure to file penalty is 5 % of the tax left unpaid on the due date for each month or part of a month the return is late, with a ceiling of 25 % reached after 5 months. When the late payment penalty runs in the same month, the filing penalty drops by that amount, so the usual monthly charge is 4.5 % for filing plus 0.5 % for payment. Once a return is more than 60 days late, a minimum applies: $525 for returns due in 2026, or the whole unpaid tax if that is less. The penalty is figured on unpaid tax only, so a return showing a refund or a balance paid on time carries none. On $6,200 of 2025 tax, a return filed 45 days late costs $558 in late filing penalty; at 153 days it reaches $1,395, and waiting longer adds nothing more to this penalty.
How the IRS counts the months
The IRS failure to file penalty page lays the calculation out in four steps: the tax required to be shown on the return, minus tax paid on time through withholding or estimated payments, minus refundable credits, multiplied by 5 % for each month or partial month. The clock starts on the due date, or the extended due date if an extension was filed, and stops on the day the IRS receives the return. One day late is one month. The same date one month later is still one month; the next day is two.
That rule makes the first days the most expensive per day. On $6,200 unpaid, the first day late costs $279 of filing penalty. Day 31 starts a second month. The table runs the same tax through the calendar, with the tax paid on the day the return is filed.
| Days late | Months counted | Late filing | Late payment | Both |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | $279 | $31 | $310 |
| 31 | 2 | $558 | $62 | $620 |
| 45 | 2 | $558 | $62 | $620 |
| 61 | 2 | $558 | $62 | $620 |
| 92 | 4 | $1,116 | $124 | $1,240 |
| 122 | 4 | $1,116 | $124 | $1,240 |
| 153 | 5 | $1,395 | $155 | $1,550 |
| 240 | 5 | $1,395 | $248 | $1,643 |
Your tax and the days late
Failure to file penalty
$635
| Months counted | 3 |
| Rate after the late payment offset | 13.5 % |
| Late payment penalty for the same months | $71 |
| Both penalties together | $705 |
The 4.5 % plus 0.5 % split
Section 6651(a) of the tax code stacks the two penalties, but the IRS does not charge both at full rate for the same month. In any month where the late payment penalty applies, the filing penalty is cut by the same amount. Over the five filing months, that leaves 22.5 % of late filing penalty and 2.5 % of late payment penalty, 25 % in all. From the sixth month the filing penalty is spent, while the payment penalty keeps adding 0.5 % a month toward its own ceiling.
The minimum penalty after 60 days
A return more than 60 days late triggers a floor. For a small balance, the floor can be larger than the monthly percentage. Three months at the reduced rate on $1,100 would be well under $525, so the minimum replaces it; on $380 the minimum is capped at the tax itself, which doubles what is owed. The amount depends on the year the return was due, without extensions.
| Return 75 days late, tax unpaid | Late filing penalty | Minimum used? |
|---|---|---|
| $380 | $380 | Yes |
| $1,100 | $525 | Yes |
| $2,600 | $525 | Yes |
| $9,400 | $1,269 | No, the percentage is higher |
| Return due date (without extension) | Minimum penalty |
|---|---|
| Due in 2026 or later | $525 |
| Due in 2025 | $510 |
| Due in 2024 | $485 |
| Due in 2023 | $450 |
| Due 2020 to 2022 | $435 |
| Due 2018 to 2019 | $210 |
| Due 2016 to 2017 | $205 |
| Due 2009 to 2015 | $135 |
Who owes nothing for filing late
The penalty is a percentage of unpaid tax. A return that shows a refund, or a balance fully covered by withholding and payments made by the due date, has nothing to multiply, so filing it late costs no failure to file penalty. The risk there is different: a refund not claimed within three years of the due date is lost, as the IRS page on past due returns explains. Partnerships and S corporations follow another formula, a fixed amount per partner or shareholder per month, which this page does not cover.
An extension to file moves the start of the count by six months for this penalty only. It does not move the payment date, so the late payment penalty and interest still run from April.
The notice, and how to contest the amount
The IRS does not wait for you to compute the penalty. It sends a notice or letter that names the penalty, the months counted and the interest added. If the count looks wrong, typically because the IRS dated the return later than the postmark or the e-file acknowledgment, the IRS page says to call the number on the notice or write a signed letter to the address on it. The letter names the notice, the penalty in question and, for each penalty, why it should be reconsidered, with supporting documents such as the e-file acceptance or a certified mail receipt. A dated proof of filing is usually the strongest piece, since the whole calculation hangs on the day the return was received.
Getting the penalty removed
The IRS removes the failure to file penalty for reasonable cause, such as a serious illness, a disaster or records that could not be obtained, and on request under first-time abatement for people with three clean prior years. For 2025 returns and later, the Automatic Exemption from Penalty means the penalty is not assessed at all when that clean history exists. Interest charged on the penalty goes away with it. See first-time abatement and the automatic exemption and reasonable cause relief. Each request is decided by the IRS; this page only shows the arithmetic.