You know the old line about the inevitability of death and taxes? It’s still true. What isn’t inevitable, however, is the need to pay penalties to the IRS. It happens, but it doesn’t have to, and the main reason that it does is because taxpayers don’t educate themselves about the rules. When you get hit with an IRS penalty, it adds on to a number that you already wish you didn’t have to pay.

To ensure that you get through tax season without unnecessary costs and aggravation, here’s a list of the tax penalties that the IRS most frequently assesses against taxpayers.

The 8 Most Common Tax Penalties Assessed

1. Penalty for underpaying estimated tax payments
2. Penalty for taking early withdrawals from tax-advantaged retirement accounts, including IRA accounts and 401(k) accounts
3. Penalty for taking nonqualified withdrawals from 529 plans, health savings accounts (HSAs), and similar tax-favored accounts
4. Penalty for failing to take required minimum distributions (RMDs) from tax-favored retirement accounts
5. Penalty for making excess contributions to IRAs and other tax-favored accounts
6. Penalty for failing to file, or for filing your required tax return after the designated due date
7. Penalty for failing to pay your taxes on time
8. Penalty for filing a substantially incorrect tax return or taking frivolous positions on a return

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