April 15 federal tax filing deadline moved to July 15
Update from the IRS:
IR-2020-66, April 9, 2020
WASHINGTON – To help taxpayers, the Department of Treasury and the Internal
Revenue Service announced today that Notice 2020-23 (PDF) extends additional
key tax deadlines for individuals and businesses.
Last month, the IRS announced that taxpayers generally have until July 15,
2020, to file and pay federal income taxes originally due on April 15. No
late-filing penalty, late-payment penalty or interest will be due.
Today’s notice expands this relief to additional returns, tax payments and
other actions. As a result, the extensions generally now apply to all
taxpayers that have a filing or payment deadline falling on or after April
1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. Individuals, trusts, estates,
corporations and other non-corporate tax filers qualify for the extra time.
This means that anyone, including Americans who live and work abroad, can
now wait until July 15 to file their 2019 federal income tax return and pay
any tax due.
Extension of time to file beyond July 15 Individual taxpayers who need
additional time to file beyond the July 15 deadline can request an extension
to Oct. 15, 2020, by filing Form 4868 through their tax professional, tax
software or using the Free File link on IRS.gov. Businesses who need
additional time must file Form 7004. An extension to file is not an
extension to pay any taxes owed. Taxpayers requesting additional time to
file should estimate their tax liability and pay any taxes owed by the July
15, 2020, deadline to avoid additional interest and penalties.
Estimated Tax Payments
Besides the April 15 estimated tax payment previously extended, today’s
notice also extends relief to estimated tax payments due June 15, 2020. This
means that any individual or corporation that has a quarterly estimated tax
payment due on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020, can wait
until July 15 to make that payment, without penalty.
2016 unclaimed refunds – deadline extended to July 15 For 2016 tax returns,
the normal April 15 deadline to claim a refund has also been extended to
July 15, 2020. The law provides a three-year window of opportunity to claim
a refund. If taxpayers do not file a return within three years, the money
becomes property of the U.S. Treasury. The law requires taxpayers to
properly address, mail and ensure the tax return is postmarked by the July
15, 2020, date.
IRS.gov assistance 24/7
IRS live telephone assistance is currently unavailable due to COVID-19.
Normal operations will resume when possible. Tax help is available 24 hours
a day on IRS.gov. The IRS website offers a variety of online tools to help
taxpayers answer common tax questions. For example, taxpayers can search the
Interactive Tax Assistant, Tax Topics, Frequently Asked Questions, and Tax
Trails to get answers to common questions. Those who have already filed can
check their refund status by visiting IRS.gov/Refunds.
From March 25th
The U.S. Treasury has announced that the federal tax filing deadline would be moved from April 15th to July 15th. All returns due on April 15th will receive an automatic extension of time to file until July 15th. Taxpayers do not need to file Forms 4868 or 7004.
The U.S. Treasury has also announced that the payment deadline would be moved from April 15th to July 15th for affected taxpayers. There is no dollar limitation on the amount of payment that can be postponed.
The IRS since released Notice 2020-18 (download) providing guidance on the aforementioned automatic extended due date and deferral of tax payments until July 15th.
Please know that this extension only applies to federal income tax forms and payments. Individual States will need to issue their own guidance if they are planning on extending returns and payment due dates as well. Some states have already extended their filing and payment deadlines. Please check with your state websites or with your accountant.
Smoak, Davis & Nixon LLP is committed to our clients and continues to work on returns as we receive information. Should you wish to discuss the potential effect of Notice 2020-18 with respect to your individual tax situation, please contact us.
