COVID-19: April 15 Tax Deadline Extended

The IRS has announced in Notice 2020-18 that the April 15, 2020 income tax filing (and payment) due date has been automatically extended to July 15, 2020. An earlier announcement had limited the extension to payments only and limited the amount of tax liability that could be postponed without interest or penalty. This latest round of relief for taxpayers is only part of the overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All persons with an income tax return or payment due on April 15, 2020 will now have until July 15, 2020 to file their tax return or make any required payment, without any penalty or interest being charged. A “person” under Notice 2020-18 is any individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company or corporation.  The intention is to cover all taxpayers with this notice.

Which Tax Returns?

The Notice applies only to income tax returns. Any other type of tax returns due on April 15, 2020 are not automatically extended.

Which Payments? And How Much?

The extension applies to any payment due on April 15, 2020. That means if there is a balance due on a 2019 individual income tax return, the payment is not required until July 15, 2020. If a tax return is not filed until after July 15, 2020 the penalty and interest relief will still be available for the period April 15 to July 15. Penalties and interest will start accruing on July 16, 2020.

In Notice 2020-17 the IRS had limited the amount of tax liability that could be postponed without incurring penalties and interest. Notice 2020-18 removes all dollar limits imposed by the prior Notice. All income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, regardless of amount, are now postponed to July 15, 2020.

All estimated tax payments due on April 15, 2020 are also postponed, penalty free, until July 15, 2020.  California has followed suit by postponing to July 15, 2020 both filing and payment deadlines for all returns due or payments required between March 15 and June 15, 2020.

The government response to COVID-19 has made tax compliance very fluid. This information may be obsolete or outdated. Please check with the tax professionals at Seid & Company, CPAs for the most up to date information.