If you haven’t claimed your potential COVID-related tax refund yet and aren’t sure you’ll be able to file for it before the drop-dead July 10 deadline, you may have just been thrown a lifeline.

The IRS quietly added a tool to its website to allow electronic filings of the form necessary to claim the potential refund. Normally, Form 843, also called the Claim for Refund and Request for Abatement form, has to be filed by paper or through a professional. However, the IRS on July 1 launched electronic filing of the form only for claims related to the potential COVID refund. The forms can be found on the IRS website’s mobile-friendly forms web page.

Tens of millions of taxpayers may be entitled to refunds or abatements of penalties and interest that the IRS assessed during the nearly 3.5-year COVID-19 federal disaster period, but the only way to receive relief is to file a claim by July 10. If no claim is filed, you will forever lose the chance to receive a potential refund or abatement.

“Time is critical for people considering filing a claim,” said Glen Frost, Frost Law’s founding partner.

Why Could Taxpayers Be Entitled to a Tax Refund or Abatement?

The potential tax refund stems from a federal judge’s ruling in Kwong v. United States late last year suggesting the federal tax filing and payment deadlines were automatically suspended during the federally declared COVID-19 disaster period from Jan. 20, 2020, through May 11, 2023. The government is appealing the ruling, but if the decision stands, millions of Americans who paid or were charged late fees or interest during those 3.5 years may be due a refund since everything was on hold.

But Americans can’t wait for the outcome of the litigation to file for a refund or abatement. The law puts a deadline on how long people get to claim the refund, and that formula brings the last day to do so to July 10, 2026, tax experts said. The IRS hasn’t advertised this because it likely would rather not have to refund potentially billions of dollars to individuals, businesses and trusts and estates, but lawyers, accountants and the independent National Taxpayer Advocate have been trying to spread the word for months.

How Do You Know if You Qualify and How to File?

Independent National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Erin Collins, as well as law firms and accountants, have published guidelines and steps for Americans to take to figure this out.

Though most of the focus has been on potential refunds or abatements, Collins said the court’s ruling in Kwong v. United States may affect other tax-related deadlines. They include whether some taxpayers may still be eligible to claim tax refunds for prior years such as withholding, estimated tax payments, refundable credits, Recovery Rebate Credits or other tax benefits for those years.

“This may include taxpayers who never filed original returns, as well as taxpayers who may benefit from filing amended returns to claim additional credits, deductions, or payments,” she said.

Must Act Quickly

Taxpayers who may be affected should review their records now and consider whether they need to file a refund claim, an amended return, original return, abatement request or a protective claim. With the July 10 deadline fast approaching, the fastest and surest way to get your claim in now is with the IRS’ electronic filing tool.

“A protective claim can preserve a taxpayer’s right to a refund while the law remains unsettled,” Collins said. “Filing a claim does not guarantee relief. But missing the deadline may permanently prevent taxpayers from receiving a refund to which they may ultimately be entitled.”

Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.