Update March 20, 2020, Treasury Secretary has also extended the tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15.
Two things…
As reported by NBC New York, Fortune and Wall Street Journal,
The U.S. government will postpone the April 15 tax-payment deadline for millions of individuals, giving Americans another 90 days to pay their 2019 income-tax bills in an unprecedented move. The IRS, using authority under President Trump’s national-emergency declaration, will waive interest and penalties as well, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at the White House Tuesday. The delay is available to people who owe $1 million or less and corporations that owe $10 million or less, Mr. Mnuchin said.
This certainly takes the anxiety out of making income tax payments from a federal perspective, but each state might be different. We suspect states will fall into line, but we encourage everyone to keep the gas pedal buried and get those darn tax returns filed just the same.
There are two penalties; failure to file and failure to pay. Prior to the update, there was still a requirement to file on time… just not pay on time. Now both of those are extended to July 15, 2020.
Federal tax refunds will be processed as usual. Not sure how this impacts 401k and IRA contributions (sorry). Estimated tax payments for Q1 remain due April 15 (again, as far as we know).