This article was originally published on March 17th and is being updated as new information becomes available.

Tax Deadline Extension Announced by Treasury Secretary & IRS

This morning, Friday, March 20, Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, announced on Twitter that the upcoming April 15th tax deadline will be postponed until July 15th. All individuals and corporations will now have additional time to file and will not be required to file an extension next month.

At @realDonaldTrump’s direction, we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.

— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) March 20, 2020

The IRS has also confirmed this via their Twitter account as well.

Please see @stevenmnuchin1 announcement on moving #TaxDay from April 15 to July 15. https://t.co/88xWqLMXRF

— IRS (@IRSnews) March 20, 2020

We recommend still planning to file by your original timeline, especially if you expect a refund. Taxpayer refunds will continue to be processed. According to the IRS FAQ page, most refunds are issued in less than 21 calendar days.

Earlier this week, the IRS also announced a deferral for income tax payments due April 15th. Details on that in the section below.

Extension on Tax Payments & Clarity

On March 17th, Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, announced relief aimed at helping many taxpayers who have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Secretary Mnuchin announced that the IRS will allow:

• individuals to defer federal income payments of up to $1 million for 90 days without incurring interest or penalties
• corporations will be allowed to defer up to $10 million in federal income tax payments for the same 90 day period without incurring interest or penalty

On March 18th, the IRS released Notice 2020-17, which provides clarity on the income tax payment deferrals announced by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin earlier this week. The Notice clarified that the deferral program applies to income tax payments (including self-employment tax) due on April 15, 2020, relating to an expected balance due on a taxpayer’s 2019 income tax return, or an estimated payment due on April 15, 2020, relating to a taxpayer’s 2020 income tax year.

As part of this Notice, individuals can defer payments of up to $1,000,000 without incurring interest and penalties until July 15, 2020; corporations can defer payments of up to $10,000,000 up to the same date.  No extension for payment is provided for any other tax payments, including estimate payments due in June.  Although not covered as part of Notice 2020-17, it is possible that deferrals of other tax payments will come in future legislation.

What about State Deadlines?

As of this writing, here are state responses for the three states Blue & Co. offices reside in:

• Kentucky will follow IRS deadlines.
• Indiana will follow IRS deadlines.
• Ohio will follow IRS deadlines.

At this point, many states are still silent on whether they plan on following IRS footsteps to extend the filing/payment deadline. The AICPA is monitoring and updating state developments. Search for your state to see the current response here: AICPA State Tax Filing Guidance for Coronavirus Pandemic

Please continue to monitor our Coronavirus Resources and Information Page and COVID-19 Relief & Operations FAQs for updates.