IRS postpones deadline for gift and GST taxes due to coronavirus

The Internal Revenue Service is postponing the date for filing gift tax and generation-skipping transfer tax returns and making payments until July 15 because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

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.

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT: ADDITIONAL COVERAGE

Mark S. Bonta is the Executive Director of the Recovery Jobs Foundation, an initiative  focused on reintegrating individuals in recovery into the workforce. With 20 years of  experience as a Plant Director and 6 years of experience as a recovery-friendly employer,  he pioneered the New Hampshire Recovery Friendly Workplace Initiative (NH-RFWI) as one  of the first RFW's in the nation. Mark's leadership has been recognized with several awards,  including the 2022 Littleton Area Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award and the  2023 White Mountains Community College President's Community Partner Award.  Currently formalizing the Recovery Jobs Foundation, he also serves on the NH-RFWI  Advisory Council, and as Secretary of the Florida Recovery-Friendly Workplace Coalition.

Alex Konanykhin is the co-founder and CEO of Unicoin.

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Monica S. Simon is head of legal at Forge Global and has over 15 years of experience as a securities lawyer in both public and private markets.

Before joining Forge, she was deputy general counsel at Carta, and general counsel for Carta's broker-dealer entity. Prior to that, Simon was an attorney with Willkie Farr, where she advised registered broker-dealers and investment advisors, and assistant general counsel at Goldman Sachs, where she covered equities sales and trading and was counsel for the Goldman Alternative Trading System.

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.

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The IRS headquarters building in Washington, D.C.
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