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.
Greg Hopper is a senior fellow at the Bank Policy Institute.
Layla Kennington is an intern for Bond Buyer through the Dow Jones News Fund. She is a rising senior at Tufts University studying International Relations and Arabic. An aspiring business reporter, she was a features editor for the Tufts Daily and news editor for the Tufts Observer.
Olivia Krylov is an associate at Capco, interested in the banking and payments, risk and regulatory, and security and privacy spaces.
She currently works out of Capco's Chicago office and is on a payments engagement assessing the security of the clients payment rails. She has also supported a DEI engagement developing the financial institutions overall strategy, as well as a small team working on financial and regulatory consulting for a financial services firm. She has previous experience in consulting both through internships and in an academic context.
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.
