IRS pushes Tax deadline to Mid-May after chaotic year
The Internal Revenue Service is planning to delay the April 15 tax filing deadline by about one month to give additional time to taxpayers to file returns and pay any outstanding levies, according to the information given by three people familiar with the discussions.
The IRS is yet to decide the final deadline. The agency is considering keeping the filing deadline either on May 15 or May 17. May 15 is a Saturday and the IRS usually delays filing deadlines that fall on a weekend or holiday to the next business day.
The IRS and Treasury didn’t reply to the comment requests on the delay.
This extension would give taxpayers additional space to meet their tax duties in what is becoming one of the most complicated tax seasons in decades. The change would come after calls from Congress accountants and leaders to delay the due date.
Few changes this tax season include last-minute changes to the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed into law earlier this month that gives filers a new tax exemption on up to $10,200 of jobless benefits. The individual tax return, Form 1040 for people to claim any missing $1,200 or $600 stimulus payments from last year also counts.
Along with the disruptions from the pandemic, the changes in tax law will make filers wait for updated forms, resubmit their returns, and some will need to consult a tax adviser on how to proceed if they’ve already filed.
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, Representative Bill Pascrell, and Mike Crapo, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, have asked IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig to delay the filing deadline, pointing out the importance of this tax season because of all the changes in tax session and coronavirus aid administered through the tax code.
The tax extension also comes as the IRS has been handed another big task: to process the third round of direct payments to households for $1,400 each this time. The IRS said it has so far sent about 90 million payments totaling $242 billion.
