Kwong v. United States (Nov. 2025) holds IRS wrongly assessed penalties and interest during the 3.5-year COVID disaster period; most taxpayers must file Form 843 by July 10, 2026 to claim refunds.
Key Takeaways
IRC §7508A(d) postponed all filing and payment deadlines from Jan 20, 2020 through July 10, 2023; Kwong says penalties and interest in that window were improper.
Relief is not automatic. Taxpayers must paper-file Form 843 or a protective refund claim citing Kwong before July 10, 2026. Send via certified mail; no e-file option exists.
A protective claim does not require an exact dollar amount – write “Protective Refund Claim Pursuant to Kwong Case” at the top and identify the affected tax years.
Scope is broad: individuals, small businesses, corporations, estates, trusts, and late international information return filers across income, employment, estate, gift, and excise taxes.
DOJ is expected to appeal; final resolution may take years, making a timely protective claim the only way to preserve rights while litigation continues.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters were skeptical of the post’s legitimacy despite it originating from taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov, the official IRS Taxpayer Advocate site.
Practical consensus: only relevant if you actually received IRS penalties during COVID; the average compliant filer has nothing to claim.
One commenter flagged the piece as AI-generated content, suggesting quality concerns even when the underlying information may be accurate.
Notable Comments
@butvacuum: “if you didn’t get penalized for filing your taxes late during covid, move on” – sharp filter that eliminates most readers immediately.
@ericpauley: called it “the most useful AI slop blog post I’ve ever read” – flagging AI-generated prose on an official-adjacent topic.
