03/18/2021
From Accounting Today:
IRS delays tax deadline until May 17
By Michael Cohn
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The Internal Revenue Service is pushing back the tax-filing deadline until May 17 after heavy pressure from Congress and tax and accounting groups.
The move will give taxpayers and tax professionals an extra month after the original deadline of April 15. May 15 falls on a Saturday, so the date was moved up until Monday, May 17. Last year, the IRS delayed the deadline by three months until July 15, but that threw off some of the other quarterly deadlines for many taxpayers and tax pros. The IRS has been busy this year distributing the $600 Economic Impact Payments from last December’s Consolidated Appropriations Act and the $1,400 stimulus payments from the American Rescue Plan Act that passed earlier this month, and had to delay the start of tax season by about three weeks. The agency has also been dealing with all the changing provisions from the CARES Act and the other pieces of legislation aimed at helping Americans deal with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
An IRS office in New YorkTimothy Fadek/Bloomberg
Lawmakers in Congress from both parties and accounting professional groups like the American Institute of CPAs, the National Association of Tax Professionals and the National Conference of CPA Practitioners have asked for delays of two to three months, and the one-month extension represents a compromise.
The Treasury Department and the IRS confirmed the decision late Wednesday afternoon, saying the federal income tax filing due date for individuals will be automatically extended from April 15 to May 17. The IRS is going to be providing formal guidance in the coming days.
