The IRS has officially extended the 2020 tax filing season until May 17, 2021.
PA has just agreed to do the same: PA extends deadline
Although I personally do not relish the idea of working long hours 7 days a week for another month - I have to say this year we really need the extra time.
The IRS started the filing season late (mid-Feb) and the mail has been irregular for incoming and outgoing correspondence with clients. Add to that the late breaking "American Rescue Plan Act" that was passed last week containing retro-active tax provisions. We are still waiting for software updates so we can process returns that have unemployment income and other items effected by this legislation. Prior to that act there were already many new tax law provisions to deal with this year especially with businesses and COVID relief credits and funding. Needless to say, so far this filing season has been a nightmare for all involved!!
The good news for taxpayers is that IRS & PA payments for 2020 tax balances are now due May 17th.
If we've already prepared your taxes - you can disregard the April 15th date on your Federal & PA instruction letters for 2020 balances due and hold onto your money a little longer!
Note - This does NOT apply to the first quarter estimates for Federal or State, they are still due April 15, 2021.
Also, so far it does not extend to IRA or HSA contributions deadline, or to Trusts and Estates or other entities. We have not heard anything re: the local due dates yet.
Please stay tuned for these related potential changes.
If we have not filed your taxes yet - know that we will continue to work diligently to prepare them as soon as possible.
If you have not given us your tax information yet - PLEASE do not hold off getting us the info based on this news. We need as much time as possible especially this year to process all the returns that we are engaged to prepare. We follow first-in, first-out in our workflow, so the sooner you get us the information the sooner you will know where you stand tax-wise.
We are also strongly suggesting that you avoid using the regular mail at this time for any tax related matters; including sending us your tax information, returning the signed e-file authorizations and payment, as well as sending payments to the IRS, State or local authorities. If you must use mail – please set it up for tracking – ie: priority mail (not necessarily anything that is signature required as that could result in a return from a tax authority). For us, drop offs are always preferred or you can submit forms and payments electronically through our website.
We greatly appreciate your trust in our services and your cooperation in keeping the workflow moving smoothly.