You may get an IRS refund if you filed your taxes late during the pandemic

The IRS is refunding penalties it charged taxpayers for filing their 2019 and 2020 tax returns late as a form of COVID-19 relief. (Keith Srakocic/AP)

People and businesses that paid a penalty for filing their 2019 and 2020 tax returns late will automatically get a refund from the IRS.

The IRS estimates it will refund more than $1.2 billion in failure-to-file penalties to around 1.6 million taxpayers. Most of the refunds will go out by the end of September.