On March 20, 2020, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the Treasury Department is extending the filing deadline for 2019 tax returns. This is in addition to the short-term relief for payments of amounts owed announced earlier in the week.
In response to the challenges taxpayers are facing amid the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, outbreak, the government has extended the tax filing deadline until July 15, 2020. In addition, penalties and interest on tax payments will be waived for 90 days, or until July 15, 2020. The 90-day deferred payment waiver applies to amounts of up to a million dollars for individuals, certain pass-through entities, and small businesses. Corporations will be allowed to defer payments of up to ten million dollars interest and penalty free. Individuals who owe more than a million dollars and corporations with tax amounts due of ten million or more must pay amounts owed by April 15th. There is no requirement to file a form to take advantage of this automatic extension.
Filing for an extension is still an available option if you are unable to file by the extended due date. You can extend your tax filing deadline until October 15, 2020, by filing Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. The form can be e-filed or sent by mail to the Internal Revenue Service. This date applies to the filing deadline only and not the July 15th deadline to pay.
A number of state taxing agencies have extended their deadlines for filing and tax payments. On March 12th, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to delay the tax filing and payment deadline by 60 days, or until June 15, 2020. Numerous other states have announced that they will mirror IRS guidelines. To learn about changes to your state’s filing and tax payment deadlines, visit your state government’s taxing agency website.