It is well settled that upon an order of restitution, based on a criminal tax loss to the government, the IRS can file restitution-based tax liens and collect the restitution in the same manner as if it were a civil tax (liens, levies, et al). However, may the IRS also assess civil penalties following the restitution? A 2021 Tax Court case, Ervin v. Commissioner, answers that question in the affirmative. In that case, the IRS audited the taxpayer and sent him Notice of Deficiencies for the years subject to the restitution finding in his criminal case. Those Notice of Deficiencies resulted in adjustments to income tax due and the IRS assessed penalties for failure to file, failure to pay, failure to pay estimated tax and fraudulent failure to file. Ervin cited the controlling case in this area, Klein v. Commissioner, finding that: If the IRS wishes to collect additions to tax, it is free to commence a civil examination of the taxpayer’s returns at any time. Thus, the IRS was not prevented from later examining and sending Notice of Deficiencies for the restitution years and assessing additional penalties. That is because restitution is assessed in the same manner as if such amount were a tax. Interest, however, on restitution-based assessments and liens cannot be assessed.