COVID-19: July 15 Is the New April 15 Filing Deadline

March 23, 2020 at 10:45 am |

Federal

On Saturday the Treasury Department and the IRS just released Notice 2020-18 in an ongoing effort to provide COVID-19 relief. This notice changes the April 15, 2020 federal due date for income tax returns and payments to July 15, 2020, no extension required. There is no limitation on the amount of the payment that may be postponed. No interest or penalty (including the failure to file and failure to pay penalties) will be assessed for the period April 15, 2020 through July 15, 2020.

The relief applies to individuals, trusts, estates, partnership, associations, company or corporations. This notice only covers federal income tax payments (including self-employment taxes) and income tax returns due on April 15, 2020; the notice is silent as to the timing of the second quarter estimates currently due June 15. Additionally, other federal taxes and payments, such as payroll taxes, are not affected by this notice. This notice totally supersedes Notice 2020-17 that was issued last week.

PA and Lancaster County

Over the weekend both the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau announced they are extending the deadline to file and pay balances due with the filing of 2019 income tax returns until July 15, 2020. The Pennsylvania extension until July 15 also applies to both first and second quarter estimates for the 2020 tax year. The Lancaster County Tax Collection Bureau is currently only extending the first quarter estimate payment for 2020 until July 15. No penalties or interest will be assessed between April 15 and July 15 for income tax payments made during this time.

Please note the preceding paragraph regarding the local tax extension only applies to Lancaster County. Please contact your personal advisor for specific information regarding your specific local taxing authority. Your trusted advisor at Simon Lever is here to help you navigate through all the changing filing deadlines. Please contact us with any questions on how this may impact you.