On March 18, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2020-17 and issued Notice 2020-18, clarifying the tax filing and payment relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic. We discuss what this means for you. 

Filing Relief

Individuals and businesses that were obliged to have their taxes filed by April 15, 2020, have been granted a respective tax return deadline extension, landing on July 15, 2020. In addition, the Extension Form 4868 and Form 7004 relating to extending your tax return time to file are now due on July 15, 2020. 

Payment Relief

The due date for individual and business federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, has been extended to July 15, 2020, but only for the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount. The Applicable Postponed Payment Amount is: 

  • Up to $1,000,000 for a non-corporate taxpayer (e.g., an individual, estate or trust). 
  • Up to $10,000,000 for each corporate taxpayer. 
  • For individual taxpayers, the limitation is the same for a single individual and married individuals filing a joint return. 

The payment relief also includes 2019 federal extension payments and 2020 federal estimated income taxes that were originally due April 15, 2020. This deferral also applies to self-employment taxes. However, it does not apply to other taxes such as payroll tax, sales tax, and others. Penalties and interest for failure to pay the Applicable Postponed Payment Amount will not begin to accrue until July 16, 2020. 

Biel Fisette Iacono: Here to Assist You In the Best and Worst of Times 

The professionals of Biel Fisette Iacono will continue to serve our clients’ needs during this pandemic. We are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our team and our clients, and to ensure our clients’ tax, bookkeeping, payroll, audit and advisory needs are met. As a result, many of us will be working remotely from home to comply with all restrictions placed on us by Federal, State, and County agencies. We will continue to monitor updates from the U.S. Treasury along with any state and local agencies for any other relief that will help our local business owners flatten the economic effects of this current situation. If you have questions or concerns please contact your professional representative, or contact our main line at (972) 633-2622.