Civil penalties are monetary consequences the government imposes for breaking a law or regulation, and the range is wide: a few hundred dollars for a late tax filing at one end, hundreds of thousands of dollars per day for a serious environmental violation at the other. The examples below cover the civil penalties Americans and U.S. businesses are most likely to encounter, drawn from tax, consumer protection, environmental, workplace safety, employment, privacy, securities, antitrust, and licensing law. Unlike criminal penalties, which can include prison and require proof beyond a reasonable doubt, civil penalties are financial and can be imposed under a lower standard of proof.
IRS Tax Penalties
Tax penalties are the civil penalties most people encounter firsthand. The IRS assesses many of them automatically, and they compound quickly.
Failure to File and Failure to Pay
Missing the filing deadline for a federal return triggers a penalty of 5% of the unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is late, capped at 25%. For returns due after December 31, 2025, the minimum penalty when a return is more than 60 days late is $525 or 100% of the unpaid tax, whichever is less.1Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty A separate failure-to-pay penalty runs at 0.5% per month on the outstanding balance, also capping at 25%. That rate drops to 0.25% per month with an installment agreement and jumps to 1% per month if the IRS issues a notice of intent to levy.2Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges
When both penalties apply in the same month, the failure-to-file penalty is reduced by the failure-to-pay amount. Even so, someone who owes $10,000 and files six months late can face $2,250 in penalties before interest enters the picture.
Accuracy-Related and Foreign Account Penalties
The IRS adds a 20% penalty on any underpayment caused by negligence, a substantial understatement of income, or a misstatement of value, doubling to 40% for gross valuation misstatements.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6662 – Imposition of Accuracy-Related Penalty on Underpayments Taxpayers with foreign bank accounts exceeding $10,000 in aggregate value must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts. A non-willful failure to file carries a maximum civil penalty of $16,536 per violation; willful violations can reach the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the account balance at the time of the violation.4eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.821 – Penalty Adjustment and Table
FTC and Consumer Protection Penalties
The Federal Trade Commission enforces rules against unfair and deceptive practices under the FTC Act.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S.C. Chapter 2, Subchapter I – Federal Trade Commission When a company knowingly violates an FTC rule or a final cease-and-desist order, the statutory maximum is $10,000 per violation, adjusted for inflation to $53,088 per violation as of January 2025. Each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense, which is why contested cases climb into the millions.6Federal Register. Adjustments to Civil Penalty Amounts
The scale can go much higher. The FTC’s $5 billion settlement with Facebook in 2019, for misrepresenting how it handled user data, remains one of the largest consumer protection penalties ever imposed.7Library of Congress. Facebooks 5 Billion Privacy Settlement with the Federal Trade Commission The Truth in Lending Act imposes separate liability on lenders who fail to disclose credit terms clearly.8eCFR. 12 CFR Part 226 – Truth in Lending (Regulation Z) Most states also have their own unfair and deceptive practices statutes, and some allow treble damages.
EPA Environmental Penalties
Environmental civil penalties are among the steepest in federal law because they accrue daily. Each of the major EPA statutes has its own schedule, adjusted annually for inflation.
Clean Air Act
Civil penalties assessed after January 8, 2025, under the Clean Air Act’s general enforcement provision reach $124,426 per day. Certain motor vehicle emission violations run up to $472,901 per day.9eCFR. Statutory Civil Monetary Penalties, as Adjusted for Inflation, and Tables A facility that exceeds its limits for a few weeks can accumulate millions in exposure before a formal notice arrives.10Environmental Protection Agency. Overview of the Clean Air Act and Air Pollution
Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act prohibits discharging pollutants into navigable waters without a permit.11US EPA. Summary of the Clean Water Act The general civil penalty is up to $68,445 per day. Oil spill violations involving gross negligence can reach $236,451 per day.12GovInfo. Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment Rule
Hazardous Waste and Superfund
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act governs hazardous waste from generation through disposal.13U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Summary of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Once contamination occurs, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) lets the EPA compel responsible parties to clean up or perform the cleanup itself and recover costs.14U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Federal Facilities Superfund liability is strict, so the EPA does not need to prove negligence, and cleanup costs routinely reach tens of millions.
OSHA Workplace Safety Penalties
The Occupational Safety and Health Act requires employers to keep workplaces free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious harm. OSHA categorizes violations by severity, with these maximums effective after January 15, 2025:15Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Penalties
- Serious and other-than-serious violations: up to $16,550 per violation
- Failure to abate a cited hazard: up to $16,550 per day beyond the abatement deadline
- Willful or repeated violations: up to $165,514 per violation
A willful citation costs roughly ten times what a serious one does. Fall protection, hazard communication, and machine guarding lead OSHA’s most-cited list, and a single inspection can produce multiple violations that stack.
Employment and Wage Penalties
Fair Labor Standards Act
Repeated or willful minimum wage or overtime violations carry a civil penalty of up to $2,515 per violation.16eCFR. 29 CFR Part 578 – Tip Retention, Minimum Wage, and Overtime Violations – Civil Money Penalties Child labor violations run higher: up to $16,035 per employee per violation, and up to $72,876 when a violation causes the death or serious injury of a worker under 18. Those figures can be doubled for willful or repeated offenses.17eCFR. Child Labor Violations – Civil Money Penalties
Employment Discrimination
Under Title VII, employers who intentionally discriminate face combined compensatory and punitive damages capped by employer size:18U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance – Compensatory and Punitive Damages Available Under Section 102 of the Civil Rights Act of 1991
- 15 to 100 employees: $50,000
- 101 to 200 employees: $100,000
- 201 to 500 employees: $200,000
- More than 500 employees: $300,000
The caps apply per complaining party and cover emotional harm, future losses, and punitive damages together. Back pay is calculated separately and is not subject to these caps.
Data Privacy Penalties
HIPAA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act uses a four-tier structure keyed to culpability. As of January 28, 2026, the ranges are:
- Did not know: $145 to $73,011 per violation, up to $2,190,294 per calendar year
- Reasonable cause, not willful neglect: $1,461 to $73,011 per violation, same annual cap
- Willful neglect, corrected within 30 days: $14,602 to $73,011 per violation, same annual cap
- Willful neglect, not corrected: $73,011 to $2,190,294 per violation, same annual cap
A single breach affecting thousands of patients generates thousands of individual violations, so even Tier 1 exposure can be significant.
COPPA, GLBA, and State Privacy Law
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act requires verifiable parental consent before an online service directed at children under 13 collects personal information.19eCFR. 16 CFR Part 312 – Childrens Online Privacy Protection Rule The FTC enforces it with civil penalties up to $53,088 per violation, with each day counted separately.6Federal Register. Adjustments to Civil Penalty Amounts The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act requires financial institutions to disclose their information-sharing practices and safeguard customer data.20Federal Trade Commission. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act At the state level, the California Consumer Privacy Act is enforced by the state Attorney General and grants residents rights to know what businesses collect and to request deletion.21State of California Department of Justice – Office of the Attorney General. California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
Financial Reporting Penalties
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act gives the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board authority to discipline registered accounting firms. Civil penalties reach up to $100,000 per violation for an individual and $2,000,000 for a firm. For intentional conduct or repeated negligence, those caps rise to $750,000 for individuals and $15,000,000 for firms. The SEC enforces reporting standards separately and can seek disgorgement, injunctions, and tiered civil monetary penalties adjusted annually. Willful violations of the Securities Exchange Act carry criminal fines up to $5 million for individuals and $25 million for entities, with potential imprisonment of up to 20 years.22U.S. Department of Labor. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Public Law 107-204
Antitrust Penalties
The Sherman Act prohibits agreements that unreasonably restrain trade, including price-fixing, bid-rigging, and market allocation. Criminal penalties reach $100 million for a corporation and $1 million for an individual, plus up to 10 years in prison. Courts can go beyond those caps and impose fines up to twice the gain the conspirators obtained or twice the loss their victims suffered.23Federal Trade Commission. Guide to Antitrust Laws – The Antitrust Laws The Clayton Act addresses mergers that would substantially reduce competition, and the FTC Act provides civil enforcement against unfair methods of competition.24U.S. Department of Justice. The Antitrust Laws
Private parties harmed by antitrust violations can sue for treble damages, recovering three times their actual losses. In cases with large classes of affected customers or competitors, private treble-damages recoveries often exceed the government’s fine.
Licensing and Permit Penalties
Operating without a required license or permit exposes businesses and individuals to civil penalties across nearly every regulated industry, from construction and healthcare to food service and transportation. Amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession, but the pattern is consistent: fines per violation, potential suspension or revocation, and escalation to criminal charges when public safety is at risk. Many jurisdictions treat each day of unlicensed operation as a separate violation, so administrative penalties for a lapsed permit compound quickly. In healthcare, practicing without a valid license is one of the areas most likely to cross from civil to criminal enforcement.
Reducing or Contesting a Civil Penalty
A penalty notice is not the final number. Federal agencies generally allow respondents to challenge a proposed penalty through an administrative hearing, and settlement is available at any stage.
The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act requires federal agencies to run programs that reduce or waive civil penalties for small businesses. Factors that weigh toward leniency include prompt self-reporting, timely correction, low culpability, and good-faith compliance efforts. Leniency is generally unavailable when conduct was willful or when the violation posed a serious threat to health, safety, or the environment.
In environmental cases, the EPA may allow a violator to offset part of a penalty by funding a supplemental environmental project. The project must reduce risks to public health or the environment, relate to the violation, and go beyond what the violator is already required to do.25Environmental Protection Agency. Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) Policy Writing a check to a charity does not qualify.
Across agencies, the factors that most consistently reduce final amounts are cooperation with investigators, a clean compliance history, prompt corrective action, and demonstrated inability to pay. The factors that push penalties higher are prior violations, concealment or obstruction, and ongoing harm. Because agencies have broad discretion, two companies cited for similar conduct often pay very different amounts depending on how they respond after the citation.