PART 356—CIVIL MONETARY PENALTY INFLATION ADJUSTMENT Authority: 28 U.S.C. 2461; 31 U.S.C. 3809; sec. 5203, Pub. L. 118-159, 138 Stat. 1773. Source: 81 FR 26169, May 2, 2016, unless otherwise noted. § 356.1 Introduction. (a) The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (28 U.S.C. 2461 note), requires that civil monetary penalties be adjusted on an annual basis by the percentage by which the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October preceding the adjustment exceeds the CPI-U for the month of October of the calendar year prior to the October preceding the adjustment, with final amounts rounded to the nearest dollar. That Act also required a one-time catch-up adjustment in the amount of the percentage by which the CPI-U for October 2015 exceeded the CPI-U for the month of October of the calendar year during which the amount of civil monetary penalty was established or adjusted under a provision of law other than the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act. This one-time catch-up adjustment was published in May 2016 and took effect for claims or statements made on or after August 1, 2016. (b) Imposition of the increased civil monetary penalties are limited to actions occurring after the effective date of the increases. (c) The ten percent cap on increases imposed by the Debt Collection Improvements Act of 1996 was eliminated in the 2015 amendments to the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act and is no longer applicable. [81 FR 26169, May 2, 2016, as amended at 91 FR 38277, June 25, 2026] § 356.2 Penalties under the Administrative False Claims Act. (a) For claims or statements made on or before October 23, 1996, the maximum penalty which may be assessed under part 355 of this chapter is $5,000. (b) For claims or statements made after October 23, 1996, but before August 1, 2016, the maximum penalty which may be assessed under part 355 of this chapter is $5,500. (c) For claims or statements made on or after August 1, 2016, but before January 1, 2017, the maximum penalty which may be assessed under part 355 of this chapter is $10,781. (d) For claims or statements made on or after January 1, 2017, the maximum penalty which may be assessed under part 355 of this chapter is the larger of: (1) The amount for the previous calendar year; or (2) An amount adjusted for inflation, calculated by multiplying the amount for the previous calendar year by the percentage by which the CPI-U for the month of October preceding the current calendar year exceeds the CPI-U for the month of October of the calendar year two years prior to the current calendar year, adding that amount to the amount for the previous calendar year, and rounding the total to the nearest dollar. (e) Notice of the maximum penalty which may be assessed under part 355 of this chapter for calendar years after 2016 will be published by the Board in the Federal Register [81 FR 26169, May 2, 2016, as amended at 91 FR 38277, June 25, 2026]