US Tax Filing & Payment Extension
In light of the current global situation due COVID-19, both the Treasury Department and IRS have announced an extension to the April 15th deadline for Federal Income tax filing, and payment of taxes due.
This new change allows for both the filing of a Federal Tax Return and payment of any taxes owed to be deferred from the standard filing deadline of April 15th, to July 15th. This change also provides relief from any interest and/or penalties, that the IRS would otherwise have assessed.
The extension applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers, as well as those who pay self-employment tax.
In order to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and payment relief, there is no requirement from the taxpayer to file any additional forms and calls to the IRS are not necessary either.
The IRS urges that if any tax filings that reflect a refund position for the taxpayer, these filings are made as soon as possible to reduce any delay from receiving the actual refund itself. Currently, the IRS have advised that most tax refunds are still being issued within 21 days.
To summarise:
• As of now, no income tax returns are due on April 15, 2020. The due date for income tax returns is July 15. The July 15, 2020 due date can be extended to October 15, 2020
• Any payments otherwise due on April 15, 2020 are not due until July 15, 2020
• Second quarter estimated income tax payments due on June 15, 2020, as of now, are still due on June 15, 2020
• Currently, this relief only applies to federal income returns and tax (including tax on self-employment income) payments which are due on April 15, 2020. State filing and payment deadlines vary and are not always the same as the federal filing deadline. On this basis, it will be prudent to check the State Tax Agencies themselves for specific details on this, and the following link may help: