Treasury Delays Tax Payments by 90 Days, Filing Deadline Currently Unchanged

On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that the April 15 deadline to pay taxes is being pushed back 90 days due to the coronavirus pandemic. The announcement did not include any mention of delaying the April 15 filing deadline.

Individuals can defer up to $1 million of tax liability and corporations get an extension on up to $10 million until July 15. Individuals and businesses will still need to file by the April 15 deadline, unless they file for an extension, which would allow them to defer filing until October 15.

“All you have to do is file your taxes – you’ll automatically not get charged interest and penalties,” he said. “We encourage those Americans who can file their taxes to continue to file on April 15, because for many, you will get tax refunds, and we don’t want you to lose out on those refunds.”

As of this article, the IRS has not yet issued formal guidance on the policy and it is not clear how this affects 2020 estimated tax payments; the first quarter is typically due April 15th and the second quarter is due June 15th.

Some states have rolled out their own filing delays due to coronavirus, but every state is different. There is no official guidance for Ohio yet. The American Institute of CPAs is accumulating states’ tax filing guidance on their website and updating as they are informed.

In many ways, we have more questions than answers. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you posted on further guidance as it becomes available.

If you have questions on how this impacts your specific tax situation, please contact your BMF advisor or any member of our tax team.

Visit our COVID-19 Resource Center for the latest updates and resources for you and your business.