Key Points on COVID-19 and the April 15th Tax Deadline:
- Currently, the tax deadline remains April 15th
- Individual taxpayers will be able to defer up to $1 million in tax payments for 90 days
- Interest and penalties will be waived
- Corporations can defer up to $10 million in tax payments
- Possible final economic stimulus package presented as early as the end of this week
As part of the possible $850 billion economic stimulus package, many people are wondering how COVID-19 and the April 15th tax deadline will work out. Will taxpayers still owe money to the government, as if we are living in normal times? We are relatively confident that will not be the case.
During the Coronavirus task force’s address to the nation this morning, President Trump and the Treasurer Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, stated that they are still urging tax payers to file their taxes by the April 15th deadline. However, the U.S. government will postpone the April 15th tax payment deadline for millions of individuals, giving Americans another 90 days to pay their 2019 income tax bills.
The IRS, using authority under President Trump’s national-emergency declaration, will waive interest and penalties as well, Mnuchin said at the White House on Tuesday. Currently, the delay is available to people who owe $1 million or less and corporations that owe $10 million or less.
As of today, all you have to do is file your taxes to reap this benefit. If you file your taxes, you will automatically not be charged interest or penalties. Mnuchin said “the delay will free $300 billion of liquidity in the economy, as individuals and businesses have more time to pay their taxes.”
The administration is also considering delaying the estimated quarterly tax payments that self-employed workers and businesses pay the IRS throughout the year, according to two people familiar with the matter. The first payment is typically due April 15. This is currently speculation, so we will have to wait and see how this plays out.
What does this all mean? Short answer, we are still waiting to see. However, based on comments from the taskforce, it does seem that we may see a final stimulus package presented as early as the end of this week.
What is DeJoy, Knauf & Blood doing to assist to our clients during this turbulent time?
Mark Blood wrote a great op-ed on LinkedIn, which you can find here. It speaks to our culture, our willingness, and our passion to work with businesses to get on the other side of this. We are facilitators to help you make better, well-informed business decisions. We understand risk, how to mitigate risk, and how to plan for uncertainty. Although we are living in unprecedented times, we will do everything in our power to help, as Mark states, get our clients off of the “coronavirus mat.”
What is DeJoy, Knauf & Blood doing to assist our clients during this turbulent time? We are going to be available, and we are going to help.
Please contact a member of our team, at any time with questions or concerns.
