How to file a COVID-era IRS penalty and interest refund claim with Form 843

A COVID-era IRS penalty and interest refund claim is a written request asking the IRS to refund or abate certain penalties or interest connected to the COVID federal disaster period. Many taxpayers use IRS Form 843, Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement, and may file a protective claim while the legal issue remains unresolved.

If you want a guided packet instead of assembling everything yourself, use PostalForm's Form 843 COVID Penalty Refund Protective Claim. PostalForm helps generate the Form 843 packet, include protective-claim language, attach your supporting documents, and send the packet by Certified Mail.

This guide is for taxpayers and tax professionals who are trying to figure out whether they need to file a Form 843 claim for COVID-era IRS penalties or interest.

You may want to review this issue if you:

• Filed a federal tax return late during the COVID-era disaster period.
• Paid IRS penalties for late filing, late payment, or estimated tax issues.
• Owe IRS penalties or interest that have been assessed but not fully paid.
• Filed an international information return late and were assessed a penalty.
• Received an IRS notice showing penalties, additions to tax, or interest from a 2020-2023 tax period.
• Are a tax professional reviewing clients who may have paid IRS penalties or interest during the relevant period.

This article is not tax advice. It is a practical guide to the paper filing process and how PostalForm can help you prepare and mail a claim packet.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service says that, for many affected taxpayers, the deadline to file a refund claim or protective claim is generally July 10, 2026.

That date matters because refund claims are deadline-sensitive. If the IRS or courts later determine that a taxpayer was entitled to relief, a taxpayer who did not timely file a claim may risk losing the ability to receive a refund.

The safest practical move for many taxpayers is to file a clear, written protective claim before the deadline, keep a copy, and keep proof that it was mailed.

IRS Form 843 is titled Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement. The IRS says Form 843 is used to claim a refund or request an abatement of certain taxes, interest, penalties, fees, and additions to tax.

For this COVID-era penalty and interest issue, Form 843 is important because it can be used to ask the IRS to refund penalties or interest already paid, or abate penalties or interest that were assessed but not yet paid.

Form 843 is not the right form for every tax issue. For example, some income tax refund issues require an amended return instead. Always review the IRS instructions or consult a tax professional if you are unsure.

A protective refund claim is a claim filed before the final legal outcome is known. It is meant to preserve your right to a refund while the law is still uncertain.

For the COVID-era penalty and interest issue, the Taxpayer Advocate Service explains that a protective claim does not necessarily require you to calculate the exact refund amount. The claim still needs to be clear enough to identify the taxpayer, the tax periods, and the reason the IRS should treat it as a refund or abatement claim.

For this issue, TAS has advised taxpayers to identify the claim with language such as "Protective Refund Claim Pursuant to Kwong Case."

A good packet should make that language prominent, identify the tax years or periods, describe the penalties or interest involved, and include available IRS notices, transcripts, or payment records.

The problem is not just knowing that Form 843 exists. The operational burden is the real obstacle.

For many taxpayers, filing a protective claim means:

• Finding the correct version of Form 843.
• Understanding which tax periods may need separate forms.
• Writing the protective-claim explanation clearly enough.
• Adding the "Protective Refund Claim Pursuant to Kwong Case" language.
• Finding the IRS mailing address.
• Attaching notices, transcripts, or proof of payment.
• Printing the packet.
• Signing it.
• Mailing it.
• Keeping proof that it was mailed before the deadline.

That is exactly the kind of workflow PostalForm is built for.

PostalForm's Form 843 COVID Penalty Refund Protective Claim helps you turn the Form 843 process into a guided workflow.

Instead of manually assembling the packet from scratch, you answer structured questions and upload supporting documents. PostalForm generates a reviewable packet and mails it to the IRS.

The packet can include:

• IRS Form 843.
• A protective-claim cover page.
• "Protective Refund Claim Pursuant to Kwong Case" language.
• A claim statement and practical safeguards.
• An evidence index.
• IRS notices, transcripts, payment records, or other uploaded support.
• Certified Mail tracking and proof of mailing.

Important: PostalForm does not decide whether you qualify, does not provide tax or legal advice, and does not guarantee a refund or abatement. PostalForm helps you prepare, assemble, print, and mail the packet based on the information you provide.

1. Answer guided questions

Start the Form 843 protective claim workflow and answer questions about:

• Taxpayer name and mailing address.
• Individual, business, estate, trust, or tax-professional filing context.
• Tax year or tax period.
• Tax type or form, such as individual income tax, business tax, employment tax, estate or gift tax, excise tax, or information return penalty.
• Whether the penalty or interest was paid, assessed but unpaid, partially paid, or unknown.
• Whether you know the amount being requested.

2. Add IRS notices or transcripts

Upload any documents that help identify the penalty or interest, such as:

• IRS penalty notices.
• IRS account transcripts.
• Payment confirmations.
• IRS correspondence.
• Practitioner-prepared schedules.
• Prior claim correspondence.

If you have an IRS notice, the mailing address shown on the notice may matter.

3. Review whether separate packets are needed

For many Form 843 claims, taxpayers should not combine multiple tax periods or unrelated issues on one form. TAS has said that taxpayers generally need a separate Form 843 for each tax period and each type of tax.

PostalForm supports structured form workflows and mailpiece ordering, so you can prepare the packet that matches the period and tax type you are filing. If you have multiple periods or tax types, prepare separate packets unless current IRS instructions or your tax adviser tell you otherwise.

4. Confirm the IRS mailing address

The IRS says that if you are filing Form 843 in response to an IRS notice, you should generally mail it to the address shown in that notice.

For many penalty-related Form 843 filings that are not based on a notice, the IRS points taxpayers to the service center where they would file the current-year return for the tax connected to the claim.

PostalForm asks you to confirm the destination before mailing. If the destination cannot be confidently determined from your information, confirm it before sending.

5. Choose Certified Mail

For deadline-sensitive IRS filings, proof matters.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service has specifically noted that taxpayers are well advised to send these Form 843 refund claims by Certified Mail so they can prove timely submission if a claim is lost or misplaced.

With PostalForm, Certified Mail is required for this workflow. PostalForm prints the packet, prepares the envelope and postage, hands it to USPS, and provides tracking.

You do not need every document to start, but these can help:

• IRS notice showing penalties or interest.
• IRS account transcript for the relevant tax year or period.
• Proof of payment if you already paid the penalty or interest.
• Any IRS letter showing an assessed penalty.
• Tax return year or tax period involved.
• Tax form or tax type involved.
• Your current mailing address.
• The address shown on your IRS notice, if any.

If you do not know the exact dollar amount, you may still be able to prepare a protective claim. The key is to clearly identify the issue and the tax period.

A strong Form 843 packet should be clear, organized, and easy for the IRS to route.

A practical packet structure is:

1. Protective claim cover page.
2. Form 843.
3. Claim statement.
4. Evidence index.
5. IRS notices, transcripts, or payment records.

The cover page and statement should identify:

• Taxpayer name.
• Taxpayer mailing address.
• Tax year or tax period.
• Tax type or form.
• IRS notice number, if available.
• Penalty or interest category, if known.
• Whether the claim is for refund, abatement, or both.
• The protective-claim basis.

The packet should also include clear protective-claim language, such as "Protective Refund Claim Pursuant to Kwong Case."

You may need multiple Form 843 packets.

For example, if you paid penalties for both 2020 and 2021, those may need to be treated as separate claim periods. If you have penalties involving different tax types, those may also need separate treatment.

Prepare one packet per period and tax type unless current IRS instructions or individualized advice supports a different approach.

You may still be able to file a protective claim.

A protective claim is meant to preserve rights while the final legal answer or exact calculation remains uncertain. That said, the claim should include as much detail as possible. If you have IRS notices or transcripts, include them. If you know the penalty or interest amount, include it. If you do not, identify the tax period, tax type, and the issue clearly.

PostalForm can help you prepare a packet that states the amount is not yet fully determinable from the available records.

When a deadline matters, the IRS filing is only useful if you can prove you sent it.

Certified Mail helps create:

• A mailing record.
• A USPS tracking number.
• Evidence that the packet entered the mail stream.
• Delivery history.

For Form 843 COVID-era protective claims, this proof can be especially important because the IRS paper-processing system can be slow, and the legal issue may take time to resolve.

PostalForm is a good fit if you want to:

• Prepare a Form 843 packet without manually formatting every document.
• Include a protective-claim cover page and claim statement.
• Upload IRS notices or transcripts.
• Send the packet by Certified Mail.
• Avoid printing, stamps, envelopes, and post office trips.
• Keep proof of mailing organized.
• Use a structured workflow that can also be represented through PostalForm's catalog and machine-order interfaces.

PostalForm is also useful for tax professionals who need a repeatable way to generate and mail protective claim packets.

You should consider consulting a tax professional if:

• You are unsure whether Form 843 is the correct form.
• You have a large refund amount at stake.
• You are already in IRS examination, Appeals, collections, or litigation.
• You have employment tax, excise tax, estate or gift tax, international information return, or business entity complications.
• You are not sure which tax periods are affected.
• You need legal advice about the Kwong issue or refund limitation periods.

PostalForm can help with packet preparation and mailing, but it cannot replace individualized tax or legal advice.

• Taxpayer Advocate Service: Tens of Millions of Taxpayers May Be Eligible for Refunds
• Taxpayer Advocate Service: Protective Claims for COVID-19 Disaster Relief Refunds
• IRS: About Form 843
• IRS: Instructions for Form 843
• IRS: Where to File Form 843