The IRS added some Frequently Asked Questions/Answers to its website to address some common questions related to the People’s First Initiative and the recent postponement of filing and payment dates. Important among these FAQs includes a confirmation that the due date for tax payments due for tax year 2019 has been extended to July 15th, 2020. Additionally, interest and penalties for these tax payments will not begin to accrue until July 15, 2020. Further, the FAQs clarify that taxpayers do not have to be sick, or quarantined, or have any other impact from COVID-19 to qualify for this relief. The IRS also clarified that taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms or call IRS to qualify for this automatic Federal tax filing and payment relief.
We are still awaiting additional guidance from the IRS related to installment agreement payments. As previously indicated in our prior blog post( https://www.tgradylaw.com/irss-new-people-first-initiative/ ) the IRS suspended all installment payments due between April 1st and July 15th, 2020. However, it is unclear whether taxpayers need to specifically request relief from direct debit installment payments or whether the IRS will stop all automatic payments. With the guidance that is currently outstanding, it seems this relief must specifically be requested. We will update this blog once further clarification is obtained.
