What are the potential consequences if I owe a couple of hundred dollars on my 2022 federal tax return to IRS and haven't paid it off yet? Will it primarily result in additional fees, or should I be concerned about more serious repercussions? My work overtime has decreased, making it challenging to pay it off sooner.

If you file a return with a balance due and don't pay in full, they start sending you bills. They will add Failure to Pay penalties, which are 0.5% per month, and interest, which is going to be 8% per year October 1st or roughly 0.67% per month. So combined that's about 1.17% per month.

You may also have Failure to File penalties if you filed late without an extension, and there can be Underpayment penalties depending on how much you owed on the tax return.

If you cannot pay the tax you owe by the date on the bill, to online and set up a payment plan. Assuming you can pay this within a few months, select the Short-term or Full pay option that gives you up to 180 days to pay in full.

Apply Online for a Payment Plan

If you just filed you may not see the balance posted yet - it can take about three weeks.

You don't have to make any payments during this time, but if you can that helps lower the amount you pay in penalties and interest. Use IRS Direct Pay and select Balance due for the reason, Income tax - Form 1040, and 2022 for the tax year. You don't need to select Payment plan unless you have an approved long-term installment agreement.

IRS Direct Pay

If you need more time to pay you can set up an Installment agreement where you start paying monthly on the tax debt. Selecting the Direct debit option has the cheaper user fee of $31, although that's waived if you are low income.

Now the other thing to do is figure out why you owe. If you have a W-2 job, get your most recent paystub and use the Tax Withholding Estimator:

Tax Withholding Estimator

It's pretty common to owe a couple hundred if you are single, don't have kids, and your paychecks vary a bit during the year. One easy thing to do is have an additional $15 to $25 withheld per paycheck to cover that variability. Or you can follow the Estimator's recommendation for his to change your W-4 this year, and then use it again in February to reset the W-4 so you don't have too much withheld next year.

If you are unable to pay the tax you owe and also cover basic living expenses, you might qualify for Currently Not Collectible status. You have to call to request this; it's just a temporary reprieve until your financial situation improves.

Currently Not Collectible

You can also probably just not pay for a couple months. IRS usually sends out three balance due notices before they send the Notice of Intent to Levy; you could wait until you receive that before paying or contacting them. It's also possible IRS won't actually try to levy your wages or bank account if you only owe a couple hundred dollars - sometimes they don't follow up on the levy until you owe a certain amount, because they usually get the money from your next tax refund. That's a risky move but it's an option.

Once you do pay the tax you owe, you can request First time penalty abatement to waive any Failure to Pay penalties. Or you can save it for future use after you have been in compliance for three years.

Penalty Relief due to First Time Abate or Other Administrative Waiver