08/20/2026
The Internal Revenue Service has announced a major administrative shift that will automatically waive three common penalties, failure to file, failure to pay, and failure to deposit for taxpayers maintaining a consistent record of timely compliance.
This newly established mechanism, designated as Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP), will replace the longstanding First-Time Abatement (FTA) framework, according to an official statement released by the agency.
“By automatically applying penalty relief, the IRS recognizes that taxpayers who historically pay on time should not have to make a formal request for relief that is routinely granted,” stated IRS CEO Frank Bisignano in the press release.