The pandemic created a spectacular mess of ordinary life, and taxes did not exactly escape the chaos. If you paid certain IRS penalties tied to your 2020 or 2021 taxes, you may qualify to get that money back through automatic penalty relief the IRS announced after the worst of the disruption had passed.
Not every pandemic-era tax penalty qualifies, and it certainly does not mean the IRS will send a check simply because the calendar once contained the word 2020. The relief comes with specific rules about the tax year, type of penalty, tax amount, and IRS notices, so checking the details matters before counting that refund money as found cash.
