Phil Marti wrote:
- quote -

I believe the IRS policy is not to abate penalties in
advance. Once the penalty has been assessed, contact the
IRS and ask that the penalty be waived and give a detailed
explanation as to why you were unable to file on time or to
request an extension.

"Reasonable cause" is a subjective standard and, as such,
depends on the judgment of the person handling the case. If
the reasons for being late are legitimate and beyond your
control, the Service is usually cooperative in abating the
penalties. (They do not have authority to waive interest,
however. On the other hand, the balance on which they
charge interest will not include the abated penalty.)

Lanny K. Williams, CPA
Nawarat, Williams & Co., Ltd.
Income Tax Services for Expatriate Americans

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

anon wrote:

- quote -

The California Revenue & Taxation Code allows for
"reasonable cause" exceptions to the penalties. "Reasonable
cause" is not defined in the Code or Regulations. Thus you
are left to the subjective judgment of the Board of
Equalization.

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

"anon" <nobody[at]nowhere.com> wrote:

- quote -

It must have been that garlic pizza you ate.

The Code says that the penalty applies absent "reasonable
cause" for the late filing. It basically means that the
taxpayer was kept from timely filing for reasons beyond her
control.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

months ago I thought I'd found IRS code that said IRS can
waive (some?) penalties if late filing was due to
disability.

Now searching for this, I found something similar, but
different. It's in parts of this: Publication 556 (8/2004),
Examination of Returns, Appeal Rights, and Claims for Refund
Index A Abatement of interest (see Interest, abatement)
Appeal rights, Appeal Rights, Appeals to the Courts, Tax
Court, District Court and ..
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p556/ix01.html [index section]

Delays in appeals is this section:
Publication 556 - Main Contents Table of Contents
Examination of Returns If Your Return Is Examined Interest
Netting Abatement of Interest ..
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p556/ar02.html

This section addresses delay due to disability [1], but
pertains to delays in taxpayer making appeal of IRS
decision, not to delays in filing.

------------
I'll probably call these people during this week. They'll
probably have some quick answers. Taxpayer Advocate Service
toll-free telephone number: 1-877-777-4778
http://www.irs.gov/advocate/article/0,,id=97402,00.html

------------
I also can't find anything when searching about penalties
and delays in filing due to disability for California or FTB
or 540 or 540A, so this may be useless effort?

_____________________________

1) or delays in filing due to "Presidentially Declared
Disasters or Military or Terrorist Actions", etc

--
Thanks for any answers. (I can't answer anything here, but I
help out in other places on the net.)

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing is intended for educational purposes only > << and does NOT constitute legal OR professional advice. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2005) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >