"Shall Be Disregarded": The Long Reach of COVID Tax Deadline Relief After Kwong and Abdo

Tax attorney Mary McNulty was featured in an American Bar Association article recapping her panel at its 2026 May Tax Meeting, which focused on the Kwong v. United States and Abdo v. Commissioner cases and their effects on interest and penalty accruals during the COVID-19 relief period under Internal Revenue Code Section 7508A(d). The disputes turned on the meaning of "shall be disregarded" in the statute, which Congress added in 2019 shortly before the pandemic began, and the central question concerned what federally declared disaster period was "disregarded" for purposes of tax filing deadlines. The article went on to summarize the outcomes in Kwong and Abdo; in Abdo, the U.S. Tax Court ruled against the U.S. Department of the Treasury and IRS' narrow interpretation of deadline relief, and in Kwong, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held a taxpayer's refund suit was filed timely, thus broadening the potential refund window. The article cited Ms. McNulty's comments about barriers to obtaining relief in spite of timely filings, because a separate lookback rule limits refunds to amounts paid within the three years before a taxpayer files a claim. It also mentioned her case survey looking at tax controversies involving COVID claims and outlined tips for taxpayers, tax counsel and other tax professionals assessing their refund options and reviewing account statuses.

READ: "Shall Be Disregarded": The Long Reach of COVID Tax Deadline Relief After Kwong and Abdo (ABA membership required to view)