|
April 15 was first designated as the filing deadline for U.S. federal income tax returns for individuals in 1955. This year, April 15 has come and gone like any other day.
Barely a month ago, in Notice 2020-18, the Treasury Department and the IRS announced special federal income tax return filing and payment relief in response to the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. Let us underline once again the
main points therein. |
|
|
|
|
The 2019 income tax filing and payment deadlines for all taxpayers who file and pay their federal income taxes on April 15, 2020, are automatically extended until July 15, 2020. This relief applies to all individual returns, trusts, and corporations. The relief also includes estimated tax payments for tax year 2020 that are due on April 15, 2020. You will automatically avoid interest and penalties on the taxes paid by July 15.
As expected, more details emerged and still more are to be established and clarified. Here is what we have so far.
There are several options to schedule and pay federal taxes electronically that are due on July 15. You can schedule your payment electronically online, by phone or using your mobile device and the IRS2Go app.
If you are looking to reschedule or schedule your federal tax payments, the IRS offers two payment options where payments can be scheduled up to 365 days in advance. The two options below are for those who cancelled their payments that were due April 15 and want to reschedule their payment to the July 15 due date.
|
|
|
|
|
Additional payment options and explanations on how to cancel payments already scheduled are available on IRS.gov/payments.
Bank Account (Direct Pay): You can pay for free with your bank account using Direct Pay, where you can schedule a payment up to 30 days in advance. Payments for the July 15 due date can be scheduled beginning June 15. Unfortunately, payments scheduled for April 15 had to be rescheduled no later than Monday, April 13 at midnight Eastern time.
If you need additional time to file beyond the July 15 deadline, you can request a filing extension two ways. |
|
- Filing Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, through their tax professional, tax software or using the Free File link on IRS.gov.\
- Submitting an electronic payment with Direct Pay, Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or by debit, credit card or digital wallet options and selecting Form 4868 or extension as the payment type. The automatic extension of time to file will process when you pay all or part of your taxes electronically by the July 15 due date. An extension to file is not an extension to pay. Taxes are still due by your original due date.
|
|
|
|
|
Estimated tax payments, for tax year 2020, originally due April 15 and June 15 are now due July 15. Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals, includes instructions to help you figure your estimated taxes.
Do not forget that state filing and payment deadlines vary and are not always the same as the federal filing deadline. You should check with your state tax agency for details. At https://www.taxadmin.org/state-tax-agencies you can find links to the current websites of all state tax agencies.
District of Columbia announced that the deadline for taxpayers to file and pay their 2019 District of Columbia individual and fiduciary income tax returns is extended to July 15, 2020.
The Virginia Department of Taxation is extending the due date of payment of Virginia individual and corporate income taxes. While filing deadlines remain the same, the due date for individual and corporate income tax will now be June 1, 2020. |
|
The State of Maryland announced that individual income tax state returns and payments are due on July 15. Business related tax returns and payments that were not collected in March, April, May, are due June 1, 2020.
The IRS and its Criminal Investigation Division have seen a wave of new and evolving phishing schemes against taxpayers. In most cases, the IRS will deposit economic impact payments into the direct deposit account taxpayers previously provided on tax returns.
|
|
|
|
|
Those taxpayers who have previously filed but not provided direct deposit information to the IRS will be able to provide their banking information online to a newly designed secure portal on IRS.gov.
If the IRS does not have a taxpayer's direct deposit information, a check will be mailed to the address on file. Taxpayers should not provide their direct deposit or other banking information for others to input on their behalf into the secure portal.
Seniors should be especially careful during this period. The IRS reminds retirees (including recipients of Forms SSA-1099 and RRB-1099) that no one from the IRS will be reaching out to them by phone, email, mail or in person asking for any kind of information to complete their economic impact payment, also sometimes referred to as rebates or stimulus payments. The IRS is sending the $1,200 payments automatically to retirees and no additional action or information is needed on their part to receive this.
As mentioned earlier, a new web tool has been launched that allows quick registration for Economic Impact Payments for those who don’t normally file a tax return.
The Non-Filer tool provides a free and easy option designed for people who don't have a return filing obligation, including those with too little income to file. The feature is available only on IRS.gov, and users should look for Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here to take them directly to the tool.
This new tool is also designed for people who did not file a tax return for 2018 or 2019 and who don't receive Social Security retirement, disability (SSDI), or survivor benefits or Railroad Retirement benefits.
Recipients of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will also receive automatic Economic Impact Payments. If they have children who qualify, an extra step is needed to add $500 per child onto their automatic payment of $1,200 if they didn't file a tax return in 2018 or 2019.
For those who receive SS retirement or disability benefits (SSDI), Railroad Retirement benefits or SSI and have a qualifying child, they can quickly register by visiting the Economic Impact Payments webpage to provide their information in the Non-Filers section.
|
|
|
|
|
|
By quickly taking steps to enter information on the IRS website about them and their qualifying children, they can receive the $500 per dependent child payment in addition to their $1,200 individual payment.
If beneficiaries in these groups do not provide their information to the IRS soon, they will have to wait until later to receive their $500 per qualifying child.
|
|
Students and others claimed on someone else’s tax return will not be eligible for the Economic Impact Payment or using the Non-Filer tool.
The new Get My Payment is another web tool on IRS.gov with features to let taxpayers check on their Economic Impact Payment date and update direct deposit information.
Get My Payment will show the projected date when a deposit has been scheduled, similar to the “Where’s My Refund tool” many taxpayers are already familiar with.
Get My Payment also allows people a chance to provide their bank information. People who did not use direct deposit on their last tax return will be able to input information to receive the payment by direct deposit into their bank account, expediting receipt.
Get My Payment is updated once daily, usually overnight. The IRS urges taxpayers to only use Get My Payment once a day given the large number of people receiving Economic Impact Payments.
To use the online application, you only need a few pieces of information to obtain the status of your payment and, where needed, provide your bank account information. Having a copy of your most recent tax return can help speed the process.
|
|
-
For taxpayers to track the status of their payment, this feature will show taxpayers the payment amount, scheduled delivery date by direct deposit or paper check and if a payment hasn’t been scheduled. They will need to enter basic information including: Social Security number, date of birth, and mailing address used on their tax return.
- Taxpayers needing to add their bank account information to speed receipt of their payment will also need to provide the following additional information: their Adjusted Gross Income from their most recent tax return submitted, either 2019 or 2018; the refund or amount owed from their latest filed tax return; bank account type, account and routing numbers.
|
|
|
Get My Payment cannot update bank account information after an Economic Impact Payment has been scheduled for delivery. To help protect against potential fraud, the tool also does not allow people to change bank account information already on file with the IRS.
Stay on top of all the news and changes regarding taxes and other relevant information for yours and your dear ones well-being by regularly checking our weekly newsletters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
