COVID-19 — IRS Extensions

By: Timothy Lynn

The IRS has provided extensions with respect to certain payment and filing deadlines. The following are some of the extensions provided to date:

Notice 2020-18 (superseding Notice 2020-17):

• Any person with a federal income tax payment or a federal income tax return due April 15, 2020 is affected by COVID-19 and eligible for relief. These include individuals, trusts, estates, partnerships, associations and corporations.
• Affected taxpayers have an extension of the due date for federal income tax returns due April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. No extensions need to be filed.
• Affected taxpayers have an extension of the due date for payments due April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020. The period April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020 will be disregarded in the calculation of interest, penalty or addition to tax for failure to file.
• The extensions include self-employment income.
• The extensions include estimated tax payments that would have been due on April 15, 2020.
• It does not include any payments with respect to anything other than income tax for the 2019 tax year or estimated income tax payments for the 2020 tax year.

Notice 2020-20 (modification of Notice 2020-18):

To the extensions granted are the following:

• Federal gift tax and generation-skipping returns due April 15, 2020 are automatically extended to July 15, 2020.
• Federal gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax payments due April 15, 2020 are extended to July 15, 2020.

Notice 2020-23 (modification of Notice 2020-18):

This Notice provides more detail on the tax forms eligible for the extension and provides additional filing requirements that are also extended, including for like-kind exchanges.
Note also that any extensions filed for the July 15, 2020 extended due date will only be effective through the usual date for extensions filed for April 15th filing deadlines – October 15, 2020.