IRS says July 15 tax filing deadline won’t be extended

WASHINGTON » If you were hoping to get some additional time to pay your tax bill, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig says, don’t plan on it.

In testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, Rettig said the July 15 tax-filing deadline would not be extended.

Because of stay-at-home orders in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the April 15 deadline to file a federal return was shifted to mid-July. In an interview late last month, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had said he was “thinking about” another extension.

But last week, Rettig said that’s no longer the case, telling senators that “too many dates begins to get a little confusing.”

National Treasury Employees Union president Tony Reardon disagrees. Reardon argues that the IRS should push the tax deadline to Oct. 15 for all taxpayers. Typically, Oct. 15 is the deadline for people who file for an extension during a normal tax season.

“I still hold the view that it is important to change the filing season to be extended to October 15,” Reardon said in an interview. “That would give the IRS more breathing room. It would give more time to make sure that all the social distancing that needs to take place on the campuses and other workplaces are able to happen. … And it gives them more time to get the work done that they need to get done.”

With a significant and troubling increase in COVID-19 cases, Reardon said IRS employees are concerned about returning to their work sites.

“Federal employees should not have to risk their lives to go back to work,” he said. “I think we’ve got to find a sort of a balance between safety and also making sure that the work is done.”

Reardon said another extension would also be better for taxpayers.

“They’ve not been able to get questions answered in all cases.

If they sent in correspondence to the IRS, they haven’t gotten responses. So, this kind of gives the entire system more breathing room. I think it’s really a common-sense response to this whole thing.”

For now, if you owe the IRS, get your return and payment in by July 15. If you need more time, file IRS Form 4868 by July 15 to obtain an automatic extension to Oct. 15. You don’t need to justify why you will miss the tax deadline.