What is an IRS CP215 notice?

A CP215 is a Notice of Civil Penalty Charge sent to a business, and occasionally an individual. It means the IRS has assessed a civil penalty for a specific compliance failure, commonly a failure to deposit payroll taxes, or a failure to file or furnish information returns such as 1099s or ACA forms (1095-C).

Can a CP215 penalty be removed?

It depends on which penalty. A failure-to-deposit penalty is abatable through First-Time Abate or reasonable cause. An information-return penalty on 1099s or 1095 forms runs under its own separate reasonable-cause rules and is best handled by an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney.

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IRS Notice CP215: a civil penalty charged to your business

Business Civil penalty

What it means

A CP215 is a Notice of Civil Penalty Charge sent to a business, and occasionally to an individual. It means the IRS has assessed a civil penalty for a specific compliance failure. The two most common reasons are a failure to deposit payroll taxes, or a failure to file or furnish information returns such as 1099s or ACA forms (1095-C). The notice states which failure it's charging you for, so read that part closely, because it changes what you can do next.

Your deadline

Respond by the date printed on the notice. The window is short, around 10 days, before more charges accrue. Even if you plan to challenge the penalty, don't let that date slip.

Can the penalty be removed? It depends which one

This is the part to get right. A CP215 can cover very different penalties, and they don't follow the same rules.

Failure-to-deposit penalty: this one is abatable through First-Time Abate or reasonable cause, the same paths that work on other payroll and balance-due penalties. This is exactly the kind of case this service is built for.

Information-return penalty (1099s, 1095 forms): these run under their own separate reasonable-cause rules and are outside what this tool covers. For those, talk to an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney who handles information-return penalties.

So check the notice for what it's actually charging. If it's a deposit penalty, the screener applies. If it's a 1099 or 1095 penalty, get a qualified tax pro involved instead.

What to do now

Read the notice to see exactly which penalty was assessed and for which period.
If it's a failure-to-deposit penalty, check whether First-Time Abate or reasonable cause fits.
If it's an information-return penalty (1099 or 1095), take it to an enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney.
Either way, respond by the date on the notice so more charges don't stack up.

See if your penalty is removable →

Common questions

How do I tell which penalty I have?

The notice names it. Look for language about a deposit or payroll-tax deposit, versus language about information returns, 1099s, or 1095 forms. The two lead to different processes, so it's worth reading carefully.

Can PenaltyLetter help with a 1099 or 1095 penalty?

No. Those information-return penalties run under separate reasonable-cause rules that this tool doesn't cover. An enrolled agent, CPA, or tax attorney is the right call for those.

Is a failure-to-deposit penalty really removable?

It can be. First-Time Abate and reasonable cause both apply to the failure-to-deposit penalty, so a clean recent history or a serious, documented event can support removal.

This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. PenaltyLetter is a document-preparation and mailing service and does not represent you before the IRS.