IRS Extends Tax Deadlines to July 15

IRS Extends Tax Deadlines to July 15
The Internal Revenue Service Headquarters Building in Washington on March 8, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
Tom Ozimek
4/10/2020
Updated:
4/10/2020

Tax authorities are extending more tax deadlines to July 15, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said.

The changes, announced on Thursday, mean that Americans’ 2019 income tax returns and payments are now due on July 15.

Individual taxpayers who for some reason expect not to make that deadline can request an extension to push the deadline back to Oct. 15.

People impacted by the virus pandemic and seeking to collect economic impact payments were earlier directed by the IRS to a dedicated site.
“Official IRS information about the COVID-19 pandemic and economic impact payments can be found on the Coronavirus Tax Relief page on IRS.gov,” the agency said in an earlier release.
Internal Revenue Service Headquarters Building in Washington on Sept. 19, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
Internal Revenue Service Headquarters Building in Washington on Sept. 19, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Last month, the IRS said taxpayers generally have until July 15 to file and pay federal income taxes originally due on April 15. Friday’s notice expands this relief to all taxpayers that have a filing or payment deadline falling on or after April 1 and before July 15.

“Individuals, trusts, estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers qualify for the extra time,” the IRS said.

While individual taxpayers can request an extension to Oct. 15, any extension to file is not an extension to pay any taxes owed, the IRS noted.

Also, individuals or corporations that have a quarterly estimated tax payment due on or after April 1 and before July 15 can now wait until July 15 to make that payment, without penalty.

Taxpayers with unclaimed refunds have also been given extra time to request money back from the IRS.

The law gives a three-year window of opportunity to claim a refund.

“For 2016 tax returns, the normal April 15 deadline to claim a refund has also been extended to July 15, 2020,” the IRS said.

After three years, unclaimed funds become the property of the Treasury.

For people who need assistance, the IRS has a tax help service on IRS.gov that operates 24/7, though its live telephone assistance is currently down due to the outbreak of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.

Earlier, tax authorities warned Americans that cybercriminals were likely to exploit the outbreak to target them with new types of hacks and scams.

The Criminal Investigation Division of the IRS recently discovered “a wave of new and evolving phishing schemes against taxpayers” that could lead to identity theft and tax-related fraud, according to an earlier statement.

To avoid being scammed, Americans should be more vigilant amid the pandemic and especially wary of schemes tied to economic impact payments.

Seniors, in particular, should exercise greater caution at this time. The IRS advised that no one from the agency would be contacting retirees in any form about the economic impact payment, sometimes also referred to as a rebate.

The IRS said seniors that don’t typically have to file a tax return would get the $1,200 economic impact payment automatically.

Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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