The IRS may owe you money. It is not going to call to tell you.
The only way to claim it is to mail in a paper form. That is the message the National Taxpayer Advocate put out this week.
Tens of millions of people may be owed cash and have no idea.
A recent court case known as Kwong looked at how the IRS handled deadlines during COVID. The disaster window ran from January 20, 2020 to May 11, 2023.
That stretch is about three and a half years. The tax code said that window was supposed to push back due dates for filing and paying.
Most people did not read it that way. Most tax pros did not either.
So the IRS charged late fees and interest as if returns were on time. The court said many of those charges should not have been set.
The Justice Department may still appeal the ruling. For now, the relief is real.
It is not getting handed out for free.
The Taxpayer Advocate flagged three buckets of refunds tied to the COVID window. Each one ties to charges the IRS may have set in motion too soon.
If any of those touched your taxes during the window, a claim may be open to you.
Here is the catch. Claims must be filed on Form 843, and the IRS only takes that form on paper.
There is no online way to send it. There is also no instant proof the form arrived.
The Taxpayer Advocate told taxpayers to send claims by certified mail. That gives proof of timely filing if the form gets lost.
The Advocate is also asking the IRS to take four steps. The first is to tell more taxpayers about the issue.
The next is a six-month grace period on the deadline. The third is blanket relief so people do not have to file at all.
The fourth is a real online portal for claims.
Investors with side income, rental income, or freelance work are most likely to have hit late fees in this window. So are those who paid taxes in chunks each quarter.
The Advocate said the goal is to make sure the well-advised and the unaware end up at the same outcome. That is hard when the only path to a refund is a paper form most people will never know about.
Tax pros may also miss the issue, since few cases drag on for three and a half years. A win on a claim could mean cash back in the bank.
It could also mean a smaller balance owed if you carried interest from that period.
The deadline is July 10, 2026. That is roughly two months out.
Without action from Congress or the IRS, the burden is on each taxpayer to act. Most people will not hear about this in time.