On April 9th, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued IRS Notice 2020-23 providing extended tax filing, election and payment deadlines to a generous number of Forms. Generally speaking most tax returns, payments, and elections that are due from April 1, 2020 to July 15, 2020 are now automatically extended until July 15, 2020. This means there is no need to file for the extension or to take any other action; it applies automatically. Associated interest, additions to tax, and penalties for late filing or late payment will be suspended until July 15, 2020.
The most recent Notice amplifies earlier IRS Notices discussed in my previous tax blogs here and here. (Specifically, Notice 2020-18, 2020-15 IRB 590 (April 6, 2020), and Notice 2020-20, 2020-16 IRB 660 (April 13, 2020)). The IRS will be updating its FAQ page (“Filing and Payment Deadlines Questions and Answers”) to reflect Notice 2020-23.
Notice 2020-23 provides a list of international tax information forms to which the extension automatically applies:
- Form 3520
- Form 5471
- Form 5472
- Form 8621
- Form 8858
- Form 8865
- Form 8938
- Individual income tax payments and return filings on Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Form 1040 including Form 1040 for Americans living and working overseas otherwise due by June 15. The extension applies to other Forms in the 1040 series — 1040-SR, U.S. Tax Return for Seniors, 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return, 1040-NR-EZ, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents
- Installment payments due under Internal Revenue Code Section 965(h) for the “ Repatriation” or “Transition Tax”
In general, elections that are made, or required to be made on (or by attachment to) any of the aforementioned forms shall be treated as timely if filed on or before July 15, 2020. The Notice also provides extensions for gift and estate tax returns on Form 706, Form 709, and Form 8971. Certain specified actions falling within the period, including petitioning tax court and claiming a refund, are also extended.
Please carefully review the actual Notice if seeking information about specific forms / payments / elections not mentioned above, since those not explicitly mentioned are not covered.
Further Extension Needed?
If a taxpayer needs additional time to file beyond the July 15 deadline, the taxpayer may choose to file the appropriate extension form by July 15, 2020, to obtain an extension to file their return. Note that the extension date, however, will not go beyond the original statutory or regulatory extension date. For example, a Form 4868, “Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return”, may be filed by July 15, 2020, to extend the time to file an individual income tax return, but that extension will only be to October 15, 2020.
Posted April 13, 2020
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