1040 Income tax forms
Photographer: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
Photographer: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
The Internal Revenue Service plans to delay the April 15 tax filing deadline by about a month, giving taxpayers more time to file returns and pay any outstanding taxes, said three people familiar with the discussions.
The IRS is still figuring out what the final deadline will be. The agency is considering setting the filing deadline on May 15 or 17, according to two of the people, who were not authorized to speak in public because the decision had not yet been finalized. May 15 is a Saturday, and the IRS typically postpones the filing of deadlines that fall on a weekend or public holiday until the next business day.
The IRS and the Treasury Department did not respond to requests for comment on the delay.
The extension of the filing would give taxpayers extra breathing space to meet their tax obligations in what is becoming one of the most complicated tax seasons in decades. The change would come after calls from accountants and congressional leaders to postpone the expiration date as new legislation and pandemic-related work changes disrupt taxpayers’ plans.
Among the changes this tax season are last-minute changes to the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed into law earlier this month that give filers a new tax exemption on until $ 10,200 in unemployment benefits. The individual tax return, Form 1040, is also the mechanism for people to claim missing incentive payments of $ 1,200 or $ 600 from last year.
Aside from the disruptions of the pandemic, the changes to tax law will mean that some filers will have to wait for updated forms, resubmit their returns, and some will need to consult a tax advisor on how to proceed if they have already filed.
Read more: US tax refunds are down 32% in slow-moving IRS filing season
House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, Representative Bill Pascrell and Mike Crapo, the Senate Finance Committee’s top Republican, have asked IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig to delay the filing deadline, citing the importance of this tax season due to all the tax changes and coronavirus help managed through the tax code.
The IRS, which has the administrative authority to defer tax terms without Congress, also extended the filing season at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
Since the beginning of March, the IRS behind last year’s statistics in the number of tax returns filed and processed and the number of refunds made. The filing season, which began February 12, started about two weeks later than usual and contributed to the slump.
The tax increase comes also now that the IRS has been given another major task: to process a third round of direct payments to households, this time at $ 1,400 each. The IRS said it has circulated so far 90 million payments totaling $ 242 billion.
Updates with changes for this archiving season from the fifth paragraph.