Live updates: Tax filing deadline extended to July 15 due to coronavirus disruption

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday that the administration has moved the IRS deadline for filing taxes from April 15 to July 15 due to the disruption caused by the coronavirus.

The new deadline will give millions of taxpayers more time to fill out their tax forms as coronavirus upends daily life across the country. Mnuchin made the announcement on twitter, citing President Trump’s directive.

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

The Treasury Department had previously announced $300 billion in delays to tax deadline payments. It had been reluctant to postpone the deadline for filing as well, in part because doing so may result in fewer Americans getting their tax refunds at a weak moment for the American economy.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/20/markets-economy-live-updates-coronavirus/

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Link to tweet

TEXT

Steven Mnuchin
✔
@stevenmnuchin1

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.

10:04 AM - Mar 20, 2020

The earlier confusing guidance was that you still had to file on April 15th but pay in 90 days. Apparently Congress was drafting a bill to move the filing date.

[thesquanderer]

1. This makes more sense. People can't be going to their local H&R Block or whatever. n/t

[FailureToCommunicate]

2. "I don't need more time. I need a deadline" - Duke Ellington

[NCDem47]

3. "At Trump's direction..."

He can't even find his way to the bathroom!

The spin is working overtime to present the president as hands on and in commend of the situation.

UGH!

[dalton99a]

4. About time - with all the stay-at-home orders

and all Taxpayer Assistance Centers are closed until further notice

[euphorb]

5. Most, if not all, states will have to follow suit.

Most, if not all, state tax returns start with an amount calculated on the federal return, so they will have to move their filing dates as well.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Exactly right!

I know PA's does - that's what speeds up the filing (at least for online filing). They assume the figures reported to the IRS for adjusted gross and go from there.

[Kaleva]

17. I was wondering about that.

[bucolic_frolic]

7. I doubt this hoopla is relevant to very many people

Who waits until mid-March to even start their taxes? It's not like you have to mail it. Most people just file electronically.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. You have a number of people

who do "gig" jobs and need to get all their W-2s for each and make sure they add up correctly. And if anything, there are a subset of people (and I used to work with some before I retired) who had nothing taken out because they "didn't want government holding their money and making interest off of it"... So among those who did that but who didn't (or couldn't) put aside enough for what they knew they would owe, they have to now figure out where to get the money to pay (and hopefully they didn't have sudden emergencies that emptied their bank accounts).

[catbyte]

10. I usually do TurboTax 1040A, but I'm extremely relieved about the extension.

I became the executor of my significant other's estate after he passed away unexpectedly in April so I have to file his final tax return. Mine got significantly more complicated, too, after he left me everything which really impacted my income. I'm going to owe the feds a boatload of money because I had a health insurance subsidy in 2019 but got a big chunk of money in October which made me ineligible for the subsidy and I will have to pay that money back. It will give me more time to sort everything out. Ugh.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. Oh, my, so sorry to hear

I've been there, filed an estate return. Not only are you tired and distraught from end of life issues, and need to grieve, but you have to pay up, and pay quickly to avoid penalties. And it's complicated. You've never seen returns like these before.

All I'm saying is a high percentage of taxpayers have already filed by mid March. They could have just advised everyone to file an extension which you're entitled to anyhoo. This is just a blanket automatic extension.

[eggplant]

13. Are you kidding?

Paperwork takes time to show up from employers, banks, etc. Many people owe money, so there's no point in getting it done early. Some people just don't have the time to deal with it.

Why are you judging people who wait until near the deadline but actually make the deadline?

What axe are you grinding?

[bucolic_frolic]

14. I'm not "grinding" any axe. I'm not "judging" taxpayers. Is that an accusation?

There are people who file by Jan 2nd. The numbers are all known, if the taxpayer keeps current records in a spreadsheet. It makes for a lot less to do when taxes are filed.

I guess you don't do your taxes as fast as possible, as early as possible. That is your right as a taxpayer.

2 posts down there's someone who tacitly admits late-filing is "laziness". Why don't you go pick on him awhile? or are you just after me?

[eggplant]

20. I don't get a lot of my needed paperwork until the end of February (if I'm lucky).

There are a lot of pieces of paper from various places that I require in order to file, and that I have zero control over.

If you are able to get all of your needed info early, then that's great and you get to file and get your refund before the rest of us. But your sense of disbelief that other people have different situations is off-putting.

[eilen]

22. Well, there is a law that says the W2 must be delivered by mail

or in person by January 30. I usually wait until mid March or the first week of April anyway because in the past, I usually had to pay and I'm not paying until very close to the deadline. I do my own taxes usually on TurboTax. At any rate, it is my goal to file them this weekend along with doing my census. I expect to be very busy at work in the next week coming up. I'm an RN and work at a hospital and we have only a few cases of PUI and confirmed and if NYC is to judge things are going to accelerate.

My husband is also working out of the home- he is an electrician working on a new lab. My son is the only one at home because he is in college and they have called off classes and will do distance learning, probably for the rest of the semester. I expect commencement will be postponed/cancelled. So at least we have someone to let the dogs in and out.

[csziggy]

24. If you get K1s or 1099s they don't have to be out until later

I think the end of February. I got notified in January that some of my K1s would be late and there had already been extensions filed for them.

Just last week I called my accountant to have them file an extension since I have no word on when those K1s will arrive. I figured it would be better to take the pressure off the accountants since they wouldn't be able to get everything done if those ran very late.

Now it turns out I probably didn't need to worry - maybe the accounts haven't had a chance to file the extension anyway.

[SWBTATTReg]

15. This is very important to a lot of people (the extra time, gathering and analzing receipts, etc.)...

I do taxes all through the year and I don't necessarily do them all electronically either. Some prefer paper still.

Some have a lot of paperwork to go through (including me), and a lot of people aren't in this digital age where everything is done electronically 100%. Small Mom and Pop businesses, etc.

I still do my taxes via paper to prevent my tax ID and stuff from being easily stolen online (and I'm an old IT guy plus an accountant (tax audits - specialty), if your social security nbr. isn't online as much, less likely to be stolen or compromised). I could even go to my Mom so she can do the taxes for me too (she's a CPA, w/ her own tax business), but I'd prefer a hands on approach on taxes. So I'll know the rational for tax policy, etc. (my background).

[marybourg]

16. Are you kidding ?

Haven’t you ever seen pictures of people lined up near midnight on Apr. 15 at the one p.o. in the city kept open that night to mail the returns they just completed an hour ago?

[MissB]

18. Eh. Me?

I still help my sons (both in college) with their returns. It’d be easier if they were 1. Attending instate (they’re out of state) and 2. Didn’t work in their other state. I end up having to run two state returns for both of them, plus get their signatures.

Last year we had to FaceTime to get things done. It’s doable but it costs $ to do it that way since I have to pay electronic filing fees and turbo tax programs (only the first one is free; I get to buy 2 extra).

I’m done with mine. I’ll hold off on filing fed taxes until July since I owe quite a few thousand. I’ve already filed my state taxes since I get a few thousand back.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. I work for a CPA. You would be amazed

how many wait until the last minute. Then there are the small businesses that just don't do their bookkeeping, at all, and are stunned that we charge $60 an hour to clean up their mess.

[iluvtennis]

8. Have you noticed everyone is attributing decisions made to trump. If he is making all of the

decisions, then they can resign as their expertise isn't needed.

So tired of this BS.

[oldsoftie]

11. So i can extend my usual laziness

[RealityChik]

21. You could anyway, with the regular extension until October...

Of course, the regular extension doesn't extend the time you have to pay if you owe. Fees and penalties apply. Had to rely on this many times during my freelancing and small biz ownership years.

So, this special extension until July is a good thing, especially for gig workers who have difficulty paying the tax obligations from the meager wages recorded on their 1099s every year.

Only hesitation for me is wondering if the 2020 general election postponement is next...

[oldsoftie]

23. The only way to do that is an act of Congress I think. And the House would NEVER go there