March 19, 2020 – As announced by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on March 17, 2020, and confirmed by the IRS in Notice 2020-17 on March 18, 2020, individual taxpayers will not be charged interest or penalties if they choose to defer payment on federal tax obligations up to $1 million for up to 90 days after the upcoming April 15, 2020 filing deadline.

Corporations may defer payment on up to $10 million without interest or penalties for up to 90 days. These payment extensions are granted automatically and do not require additional permission from the federal government.

Although the payment deadline has been extended to July 15, 2020, taxpayers must still comply with the April 15, 2020, tax-return filing deadline. Taxpayers eligible for tax refunds are encouraged to comply with the April 15 deadline in order to receive their refund promptly. Per the Treasury Secretary, “We encourage those Americans who can file their taxes to continue to file their taxes on April 15 because for many Americans, you will get tax refunds. We don’t want you to lose out on those tax refunds.”

As of the date of this article, Arizona has not issued guidance regarding any change to state-specific filing deadlines. This information may change in the coming days and weeks as legislatures work to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in their communities.

Taxpayers who live in Arizona or other states where an automatic payment or filing extension has not been enacted must continue to pay and file their state taxes under their usual practices.

For more information, or if you have questions, please contact one of Gust Rosenfeld’s Taxation attorneys.