The Internal Revenue Service is postponing the date for filing gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax returns and making payments until July 15, 2020, because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The IRS issued Notice 2020-20 on Friday, extending the relief it provided earlier this month on the tax-filing and payment dates for most other types of tax returns. The IRS also said the associated interest, additions to tax, and penalties for late filing or late payment will be suspended for the gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax until July 15.
Frederick Scholl is cyber security program director at Quinnipiac University.
Jason Park is senior vice president of digital forensic services at BIA (www.biaprotect.com), a leader in eDiscovery services. A licensed private investigator with over two decades of diverse eDiscovery and computer forensics experience, Park oversees BIA’s data collection, digital forensics, investigation and analysis services for matters of all sizes and complexities. He can be reached at jpark@biaprotect.com.
Jon Lukomnik is a long-time institutional investor who has run a large pension fund, been a managing director at a top ten hedge fund, and also been on the creditor's committee of WorldCom. He currently serve on the Deloitte Audit Quality Advisory Committee and the Standing Advisory Group of the PCAOB.
The relief is automatic and applies to any amounts due related to these types of returns. There’s no requirement to file for an extension and the three-month period between the original due date of April 15 and the new deadline of July 15 will be disregarded in terms of any interest, penalties or extra taxes for those who fail to file a Form 709 United States Gift and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return by April 15.
Groups of tax and accounting professionals such as the American Institute of CPAs, the National Society of Accountants and the National Conference of CPA Practitioners have been pressing the IRS to provide additional forms of tax relief beyond the initial relief granted for tax payments from coronavirus victims.
