26 U.S.C. § 6722
Verified against govinfo.gov as of June 20, 2026View official text on govinfo.gov ↗
- (a)
- (1)In the case of each failure described in paragraph (2) by any person with respect to a payee statement, such person shall pay a penalty of $250 for each statement with respect to which such a failure occurs, but the total amount imposed on such person for all such failures during any calendar year shall not exceed $3,000,000.
- (2)For purposes of paragraph (1), the failures described in this paragraph are—
- (b)
- (1)If any failure described in subsection (a)(2) is corrected on or before the day 30 days after the date prescribed for furnishing such statement—
- (2)If any failure described in subsection (a)(2) is corrected after the 30th day referred to in paragraph (1) but on or before August 1 of the calendar year in which the date prescribed for furnishing such statement occurs—
- (c)for purposes of this section, such statement shall be treated as having been furnished with all of the correct required information.
- (1)If—
- (A)a payee statement is furnished to the person to whom such statement is required to be furnished,
- (B)there is a failure described in subsection (a)(2)(B) (determined after the application of section 6724(a)) with respect to such statement, and
- (C)such failure is corrected on or before August 1 of the calendar year in which the date prescribed for furnishing such statement occurs,
- (2)The number of payee statements to which paragraph (1) applies for any calendar year shall not exceed the greater of—
- (3)
- (A)If, with respect to any payee statement—then no correction shall be required and, for purposes of this section, such statement shall be treated as having been furnished with all of the correct required information.
- (i)there are 1 or more failures described in subsection (a)(2)(B) relating to an incorrect dollar amount,
- (ii)no single amount in error differs from the correct amount by more than $100, and
- (iii)no single amount reported for tax withheld on the payee statement differs from the correct amount by more than $25,
- (B)Subparagraph (A) shall not apply to any payee statement if the person to whom such statement is required to be furnished makes an election (at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe) that subparagraph (A) not apply with respect to such statement.
- (C)The Secretary may issue regulations to prevent the abuse of the safe harbor under this paragraph, including regulations providing that this paragraph shall not apply to the extent necessary to prevent any such abuse.
- (A)If, with respect to any payee statement—then no correction shall be required and, for purposes of this section, such statement shall be treated as having been furnished with all of the correct required information.
- (1)If—
- (d)
- (e)If 1 or more failures to which subsection (a) applies are due to intentional disregard of the requirement to furnish a payee statement (or the correct information reporting requirement), then, with respect to each such failure—
- (1)subsections (b), (c), and (d) shall not apply,
- (2)the penalty imposed under subsection (a)(1) shall be $500, or, if greater—
- (A)in the case of a payee statement other than a statement required under section 6045(b), 6041A(e) (in respect of a return required under section 6041A(b)), 6050H(d), 6050J(e), 6050K(b), or 6050L(c), 10 percent of the aggregate amount of the items required to be reported correctly, or
- (B)in the case of a payee statement required under section 6045(b), 6050K(b), or 6050L(c), 5 percent of the aggregate amount of the items required to be reported correctly, and
- (3)in the case of any penalty determined under paragraph (2)—
- (f)
- (1)In the case of any failure relating to a statement required to be furnished in a calendar year beginning after 2014, each of the dollar amounts under subsections (a), (b), (d)(1), and (e) shall be increased by an amount equal to such dollar amount multiplied by the cost-of-living adjustment determined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year determined by substituting “calendar year 2011” for “calendar year 2016” in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
- (2)If any amount adjusted under paragraph (1)—