Need help with First Time Abatement for my Estimated Tax Penalty

The First Time Abatement (FTA) is definitely something you should pursue for your estimated tax penalty. For line 4 on Form 843, you need to explain why you're requesting the abatement. You should clearly state that you're requesting a "First Time Abatement" under the IRS FTA policy. Your explanation should mention that you've had a clean compliance history for the past three years (no penalties), that this is your first time dealing with self-employment income, and that you weren't aware of the estimated tax payment requirements. Be honest but concise. Something like: "I am requesting First Time Abatement relief as this is my first penalty after 3 years of compliance. I was unaware of estimated tax payment requirements when I began self-employment work last year. I have since educated myself on these requirements and have made arrangements to comply with all future estimated tax payment deadlines.

When I had this exact same issue last year with estimated tax penalties, I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to fill out Form 843 correctly. After wasting hours, I found this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me draft the perfect abatement request. It basically analyzed my situation and helped me create the right language for Form 843, especially for that tricky line 4. It even explained that for First Time Abatement requests, you need to specifically mention your clean compliance history and that you've taken steps to prevent future issues. My abatement was approved in about 3 weeks without any follow-up questions from the IRS.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after being skeptical. I decided to give it a try with my similar estimated tax penalty situation, and I'm really impressed with how it handled my case. It asked me specific questions about my tax history and penalty situation that I hadn't even considered relevant. The language it provided for my Form 843 was much more detailed and persuasive than what I would have written. My abatement request for a $1,250 estimated tax penalty was approved last week! The tool actually helped me identify that I qualified for a reasonable cause abatement in addition to FTA, which I didn't even know was an option.

After struggling to get any response from the IRS about my own abatement request (filed 4 months ago!), I started using a service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. They have a demo video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I explained my First Time Abatement situation for estimated tax penalties to the agent, and she was able to look up my Form 843 right away. Turns out it had been sitting in a queue without being processed. The agent approved my abatement right on the call after verifying my clean compliance history.

I need to publicly eat my words here. After dismissing Claimyr as a scam, I was desperate enough to try it when my abatement request went 3 months with no response. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes (which honestly felt like a miracle after my previous attempts). The agent was actually super helpful - she found my Form 843 for the estimated tax penalty, confirmed I qualified for First Time Abatement, and expedited the processing. Got my approval letter yesterday - penalty of $925 completely removed! I'm still shocked at how smoothly it went after months of frustration. Definitely worth it if you're stuck in IRS limbo.

One thing to remember about First Time Abatement for estimated tax penalties - it truly is a "first time" thing. The IRS typically only grants FTA once every 3-4 years per tax type. If you get it now, don't count on getting it again anytime soon! I'd recommend also setting up proper estimated tax payments going forward. The IRS Direct Pay system lets you schedule quarterly payments in advance, and you can use Form 1040-ES to calculate approximately how much you should pay each quarter based on your expected income.

Has anyone tried just calling the IRS Practitioner Priority Line instead of filing Form 843? I'm a tax preparer and sometimes we can get estimated tax penalties removed over the phone if it's a first-time situation and the amount is under $1,000.