With the country in a time of crisis, the IRS is stepping up, extending more tax deadlines not only for individuals but also companies, trusts, estates, corporations, and others to help provide both individuals and entities with the added time they need to file and make timely payments. Just last month, the IRS had announced that it was extending the filing deadline for federal income taxes until July 15th.
With this extension for filing, also comes an extension for paying taxes, providing for no late fees, interest, or penalties to filers opting for the July deadline. But the IRS isn’t finished yet.
IRS Notice 2020-23
Just recently the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Treasury have announced another tax deadline extension with Notice 2020-23. The notice was created to extend additional relief for a number of other return payments and actions, which will now allow all taxpayers who are tasked with a filing and payment deadline running between April 1 and July 15th. Under this notice extra filing and payment time is given for:
- Trusts
- Estates
- Corporations
- Non-corporate tax filers
- American who both live and work abroad
All of the above filers will have until July 15th to file their federal taxes and remit payment. In addition to this extension, extensions beyond the July 15th day can be sought by individuals, by filing the IRS Form 4868 to extend the deadline to October 15th. Businesses can also file for additional time by using Form 7004. It is important to note that these two forms of extension can delay filing but will not provide additional time for payment. [this sounds confusing-maybe we remove this line?] All payments will need to be received by the IRS by the new July 15th deadline to avoid late fees and penalties.
What does this mean for Estimated Tax Payments?
The new IRS filing schedule also extended to Estimated Tax Payments that are due on or before April 15th as well as payments expected by June 15th. All individuals that pay quarterly estimated tax payments between April 1st and July 15th will be able to hold off their payments until the July 15th date and will incur no interest o penalties.
What if you are filing for an unclaimed refund?
For individuals looking to claim a 2016 unclaimed refund, the deadline has also been extended to July 15th. When claiming for 2016 tax returns the three-year window to file a return and claim the money before it becomes the property of the U.S. Treasury has been moved from Apil 15th to the July 15th date. To ensure that you fall under the guidelines of the new deadline, you will need to make sure that your return is properly addressed, and the return bears a postmark of July 15th.
How to contact the IRS
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the 24/7 assistance line for the IRS is not currently active, though operations are expected to resume as soon as possible. You can receive answers to your tax questions 24 hours a day through the IRS website. The website provides taxpayers with a number of tools to assist them, including:
- Answers to frequently asked questions
- An interactive Tax Assistant
- A Tax Topic section
- Tax Trails where common questions are answered
For those looking to check the status of their refund, you can simply visit IRS/gov/Refunds.
The IRS does advise that those filing for a refund should file promptly, to ensure that their payment is received in a timely manner. For those who owe taxes or are unable to meet with an accountant, the new filing deadlines will provide them with the extra relief they need to get through the impending crisis.