The IRS released the first round of changes to the current tax-filing season on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. Then on Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin announced new changes. In summary, those are:
- Individuals and trusts may file returns AND defer the payment of up to $1 million of their outstanding 2019 federal tax liability until as late as July 15, 2020 – without extending their returns – and not be subject to penalties or interest. Corporations can defer even larger payments until July 15.
- It appears that the other tax-related deadlines that also fell on April 15, such as the last day to fund IRAs, Roth IRAs, HSA accounts and certain pensions (such as SEPs) are also deferred to July 15.
- 2020 estimated federal tax payments for the first quarter of 2020, normally due by April 15, will also not incur penalties or interest if made prior to July 15.
The Federal Government encouraged states to align their due dates to the federal dates. Idaho announced a revised deadline of June 15 for filing and payments due to the state. Of the additional states that we deal with the most, Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Oregon and California have approved similar responses to the revised federal deadlines of July 15.