March 18, 2020…Mahopac, N.Y.: Although not yet announced by the IRS, The White House announced yesterday that 2019 individual income tax liability payments that are otherwise due April 15, 2020 are extended until July 15, 2020 and that there will be no penalties interest due on the balance owed for the 2019 return, provided the money is paid by July 15. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT EITHER AN EXTENSION TO FILE OR A TAX RETURN IS NOT REQUIRED BY APRIL 15. By April 15 all persons that have tax returns due by the April 15 filing date must file either a tax return or and extension to file no later than April 15 in order for the “penalty waiver” to be effective. Although not yet announced, I presume this will mean that if a tax return is filed late and a tax balance due exists, that a late filing penalty of 5% per month of the tax owed could be charged by the IRS. Also it is unknown at this time if this means that the IRS can charge penalties and interest if a return or extension is not filed.

Our tax clients are advised to contact us as soon as possible to make arrangements to provide us with their tax documents and information as soon as possible. The home page has our 2019 Tax Organizer for guidance. Documents can be scanned to a password encrypted file and emailed to us, or arrangements can be made for the scanned file to be placed in an encrypted internet Drop Box, or they can be mailed to our Post Office Box address.

If extensions are necessary, contact us either by email or telephone so that arrangements can be made.

To ensure that everything is properly processed, kindly DO NOT wait until the last minute.