IRS extends 2020 individual income tax return filing deadline and payment due date

IRS extends 2020 individual income tax return filing deadline and payment due date to May 17, 2021

Due date for 2020 individual federal tax returns and balances due extended to May 17
On Wednesday, March 17 the Treasury Department and IRS announced that the filing date for individual federal income tax returns has been automatically extended to May 17, 2021.

The date for payment of balances due with 2020 federal individual income tax returns, regardless of the amount due, is also extended to May 17, 2021.

Next step: File as soon as possible for refunds. The IRS notice urges taxpayers due a refund to file their returns as soon as possible. The IRS stated that most tax refunds associated with e-filed returns are issued within 21 days.

Estimated tax payments are still due April 15, 2021
It is important to note that filing due date extension does not apply to estimated tax payments due on April 15, 2021. These payments are still due on the original due date.

This filing extension ONLY applies to 2020 federal individual income taxes; however, Maryland and New Jersey have announced their own extensions

Note: This extension does NOT apply to state tax returns or payments OR any other type of federal tax.

For now, there is no published guidance from Pennsylvania regarding extensions of time to file 2020 PA income tax returns. Maryland did extend the due date for all income tax returns and payments to July 15, 2021 and New Jersey extended the due date for filing corporation business tax returns, but not payment of tax, until May 17, 2021.

We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as soon as the information is available.

Contact your Herbein tax consultant at info@herbein.com if you have questions regarding this topic and its effect on your tax return.

Article contributed by Barry D. Groebel.