Due Date for Filing Federal Income Tax Returns and Making Federal Income Tax Payments Deferred Until July 15, 2020

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Seyfarth Synopsis: To provide relief to taxpayers affected by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”), the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service postponed the April 15, 2020 due date for filing federal income tax returns and paying federal income taxes until July 15, 2020.

Following issuance by the President of the United States of an emergency declaration under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service issued updated guidance on March 20, 2020, providing for automatic postponement of the April 15, 2020 due date for filing federal income tax returns and paying federal income taxes until July 15, 2020, without incurring any interest, penalty, or addition to tax for failure to file the postponed federal income tax returns or pay the postponed federal income taxes. No formal extension form is required to be filed. The relief applies to taxpayers’ (i) 2019 taxable year’s federal income tax payments (including payments of tax on self-employment income) and federal income tax returns due on April 15, 2020, and (ii) 2020 taxable year’s federal estimated income tax payments (including payments of tax on self-employment income) due on April 15, 2020.

The March 20, 2020 guidance supersedes previous guidance issued on March 18, 2020, which did not address the due date for filing federal income tax returns. The new guidance also eliminated the limitation on the amount of federal income tax payments that could be deferred pursuant to the previous guidance.

It should be noted that federal non-income and state and local tax-related deadlines are not automatically affected by the above relief.

Link:

Notice 2020-18: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-18.pdf