Potential Abatement of Internal Revenue Service Penalties Following Judicial Ruling in Kwong v. U.S.
根據 Kwong 訴美國政府案之司法裁決，美國國稅局 (IRS) 之罰款可能獲得減免
Introduction
A federal court ruling has established that certain taxpayers may be eligible for the refund or termination of penalties incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
聯邦法院的一項裁決確定，部分納稅人可能有資格獲退還或取消在 COVID-19 疫情期間產生的罰款。
Main Body
The current situation originates from the judicial determination in Kwong v. U.S., wherein the court concluded that emergency legislation pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic extended filing deadlines. Consequently, the court ruled that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is liable for penalty repayments. Between January 20, 2020, and July 11, 2023, the IRS assessed over 120 million penalties against tens of millions of individuals for late filings, failure to pay, or deficient estimated tax payments.
目前的局面源於 Kwong 訴美國政府案的司法判定，法院在其中認定，關於 COVID-19 疫情的緊急立法延長了申報期限。因此，法院裁定美國國稅局 (IRS) 有責任退還罰款。在 2020 年 1 月 20 日至 2023 年 7 月 11 日之間，IRS 因遲延申報、未繳納或預繳稅額不足，對數千萬人開出了超過 1.2 億項罰單。
Institutional positioning regarding this ruling remains divergent. The Treasury Department, via Assistant Secretary Ken Kies, has asserted that the decision resulted from a misinterpretation of statutory language and has indicated an intent to maintain the defense of the original statute. Conversely, the national taxpayer advocate—an independent oversight body—has characterized the impact as widespread, noting that low-to-moderate income individuals are particularly susceptible to missing the claim window due to a lack of professional legal representation.
各機構對此裁決的立場仍不一致。財政部透過助理部長 Ken Kies 主張，該決定源於對法律條文的誤讀，並表示有意繼續為原法律辯護。相反，作為獨立監管機構的國家納稅人倡導者則認為影響範圍廣泛，並指出中低收入人士因缺乏專業法律代表，特別容易錯過申請期限。
To preserve their legal entitlements, eligible taxpayers must submit Form 843 via postal mail to the appropriate service center. Eligibility extends to those who filed late, paid penalties, or maintained outstanding penalty liabilities during the specified period, including those involving international information returns. Legal counsel has advised that the submission of these claims is a necessary precautionary measure regardless of the ongoing litigation status.
為保障其法律權益，符合資格的納稅人必須透過郵寄將 Form 843 提交至相應的服務中心。符合資格者包括在指定期間內遲延申報、已繳納罰款或仍有未清罰款之人士，包括涉及國際資訊申報者。法律顧問建議，無論目前的訴訟狀態如何，提交此類申請均為必要的預防措施。
Conclusion
Eligible taxpayers must submit their claims for refund or abatement by the July 10 deadline to preserve their rights.
符合資格的納稅人必須在 7 月 10 日截止日期前提交退款或減免申請，以保障其權益。
Vocabulary Learning
The Architecture of Legalistic Precision: Nominalization and Formal Distance
To bridge the gap from B2 to C2, a student must move beyond description and toward institutional abstraction. This text is a masterclass in Nominalization—the process of turning verbs or adjectives into nouns to create a sense of objective, timeless authority.
◈ The Anatomy of Abstraction
Observe how the text avoids human agency in favor of systemic events. A B2 learner might write: "The court decided that..." (Active/Simple). A C2 practitioner writes: "The current situation originates from the judicial determination..."
Comparison of Register:
- B2 (Narrative): The Treasury Department thinks the court misunderstood the law.
- C2 (Institutional): "The Treasury Department... has asserted that the decision resulted from a misinterpretation of statutory language."
By transforming the verb misinterpret into the noun misinterpretation, the author shifts the focus from the act of making a mistake to the concept of the error itself. This creates a "buffer of objectivity" essential for high-level academic and legal discourse.
◈ Lexical Sophistication: The 'Precise' Synonym
C2 mastery requires replacing common verbs with high-utility, low-frequency formal alternatives. Note the strategic deployment of these terms in the text:
Abatement (instead of 'reduction' or 'removal') Divergent (instead of 'different') Susceptible (instead of 'likely to') Entitlements (instead of 'rights')
◈ Syntactic Density
Notice the phrase: "...an independent oversight body—has characterized the impact as widespread."
The use of the appositive phrase (the information set off by dashes) allows the writer to define complex entities without interrupting the grammatical flow of the main clause. This enables the delivery of high-density information without sacrificing coherence—a hallmark of C2 writing.