Happenings

Another Update on April 15 Tax Deadline

The Treasury Department and the IRS followed through with some guidance yesterday on the April 15 tax deadline.   As we suspected and reported yesterday, only the payment date was extended to July 15.  The filing date is still April 15.  What this means is that you still have to either file your returns or file an extension by April 15.  However if you still owe tax for 2019 (less than $1,000,000) you do not have to pay that tax until July 15.  In addition, if you owe a first quarter estimate for 2020 that would typically be paid on April 15, you also do not have to pay that until July 15

While the postponement of these payments will be beneficial to many and is welcome relief, it will not change our approach to April 15 very much.  We will still have to complete your return or file an extension by April 15.  We will continue to work on returns on a first in first out basis, meaning those that got their information to us first will be worked on first.  We have always tried to complete all returns turned into us by February 28 by April 15.  Please understand that this might be more difficult this year with all the uncertainty and that some returns that came in before February 28, may also have to be extended.

As usual, even if we are extending your return we still have to figure out at least an estimate of what your tax liability is and report that on the extension.  We believe this to still be the case even though you will not have to pay that tax until July 15. Accordingly, please continue to send us your tax information if you haven’t already in whatever method works for you (in person, mail or portal).  We will need as much of your source documents and information that you can gather and get to us so that we can determine a reasonable estimate of your potential tax liability and report that on the extension.  

As we reported in a previous update we have taken all the necessary precautions to ensure that our office is as clean and safe as possible.  In addition, many of us are working remotely to limit the number of people in the office.  So for now, our office is open and you are able to drop information off and/or come in and meet with us if you want. We encourage you to use your secure online portal, fax and email when possible.  We can also deliver your returns via mail or through your portal. We will let you know, if we are forced to close our office to foot traffic.

Finally, The American Institute of CPAs, the “AICPA”, is still putting pressure on the Treasury and IRS to also extend the actual filing deadline.  We will keep you informed if this happens.  Until then, it is business as usual (mostly ) for us!

Again the safety of you our clients and our staff is of utmost importance during this time.  Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns!