What CP 276A / CP 276B is
Tells a depositor that a failure-to-deposit penalty was computed and waived this time. "Educational notices that don't require a response" (IRM 20.1.4.19). The same pattern the next year is penalized.
Where this sits: these notices come from the Form 945 side of the house, the return on which backup withholding is reported and deposited. The Form 945 page covers the account mechanics behind them.
The deadline
No response required. Not a bill.
What to do
Do not pay it. "If a payment is remitted in response to a CP 276A or CP 276B notice because the taxpayer perceived this to be a bill, do not assess the FTD penalty" and the payment is refunded (IRM 20.1.4.19). Fix the deposit timing it describes.
An educational notice, not a bill
The IRS issues a small family of notices that compute a deposit penalty and then waive it, on the theory that a first slip should produce a warning rather than a charge. CP 276A and CP 276B are the Form 941, 943, 944 and 945 versions: the account shows deposits that were late, short, or made in the wrong way, the penalty that would have applied is shown, and the notice says it has not been assessed. Nothing is owed, nothing is due, and no reply is expected. The notices look enough like a bill that payers do remit the amount shown; when that happens the IRS is instructed not to assess the penalty retroactively and to refund the payment, but the refund takes weeks and ties up the account, so the simplest course is to read the notice carefully and not pay it.
What it is warning you about
The waiver is for the pattern described, once. The same failure in the following year is penalized under IRC 6656 at the normal rates: 2 percent of the deposit for one to five days late, 5 percent for six to fifteen days, 10 percent beyond fifteen days or for a deposit made to the IRS directly instead of through EFTPS, and 15 percent if the amount is still unpaid ten days after the first notice demanding it. Read the notice for which rule was broken. If deposits were late, check the deposit schedule against the lookback period (a CP136 may have moved you to semiweekly without anyone noticing). If deposits were short, the Form 945-A liability dates are probably wrong. If a deposit was made by check or by paying with the return when deposits were required, enroll the account in EFTPS. The Form 945 page covers the schedule and the account mechanics.
Questions about CP 276A / CP 276B
Who receives CP 276A / CP 276B?
Payer. Tells a depositor that a failure-to-deposit penalty was computed and waived this time.
What is the deadline on CP 276A / CP 276B?
No response required. Not a bill.
What should I do when CP 276A / CP 276B arrives?
Do not pay it. "If a payment is remitted in response to a CP 276A or CP 276B notice because the taxpayer perceived this to be a bill, do not assess the FTD penalty" and the payment is refunded (IRM 20.1.4.19). Fix the deposit timing it describes.
Is CP 276A / CP 276B about my own income tax?
No. This decoder covers information reporting and withholding: the notices a payer, filer or payee sees because of Forms 1099, W-2, 945 and the TINs on them. Individual income-tax notices follow a different track.
Have a different notice? The IRS notice decoder lists all 77 in the order they tend to arrive.