Tens of Millions of Taxpayers May Be Eligible for Significant Tax Refunds – If They Act by July 10 (Part I)
The National Taxpayer Advocate is flagging a July 10, 2026 deadline for taxpayers who may be owed refunds on returns where the IRS automatically assessed penalties or made adjustments during the pandemic-era backlog period. The core issue involves Notice 2022-36 penalty relief and related automatic abatements, but the NTA's concern is that tens of millions of affected taxpayers may not know a deadline exists or that they have a claim at all. For practitioners, this is a reason to pull up any individual or business clients who received IRS notices in 2020 through 2022 and had balances reduced, abated, or adjusted without a clear explanation. Missing this window means leaving a real refund on the table, and the IRS is unlikely to act without a prompt.