Penalty abatement is a petition or request to receive relief from the penalties incurred from non-compliance for payment. If you pay too little or are in arrears, you may try to obtain penalty abatement. Penalty abatement allows you to talk to the IRS and plead your case. You can do so in 1 of several ways. You may write a petition to the IRS. You may arrange for an interview. This may take place over the phone or in person. You may also provide a terse but convincing summary using Form 843. Whichever form you decide upon, make sure you concisely and objectively state your case. The object is for the IRS to discover there is a "reasonable cause" to grant you penalty abatement. A reasonable cause may be ignorance of the law (only after you prove you have made a reasonable effort to learn the applicable laws). Other reasonable causes may be incorrect advice given by either your competent accountant or the IRS itself. Fire, casualties and natural disasters also fall under this umbrella. Penalty abatement is most frequently granted if the records were destroyed through no fault or neglect of your own, if you have been a victim of a crime such as embezzlement or if some natural disaster has destroyed your ability to make the money to pay your taxes.