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.
Richard Loebl is senior counsel at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in New York.
Scott McFarlane co-founded Avalara in 2004 and is the company's CEO. Avalara started as a provider of digital sales tax compliance solutions in the U.S. and has grown globally to become a market leader in compliance automation software. Avalara's mission is to be part of every transaction in the world by automating the compliance journey for businesses of all sizes.
Richard Wickliffe, CPCU, ARM, CLU has been in leadership in the insurance industry for over 20 years. He has been a keynote speaker about unique fraud and insurance crimes at venues including a CPCU conferment and the FBI's InfraGard Counterterrorism conferences, where he received the FBI's Exceptional Service in the Public Interest Award. He's also the author of award-winning crime fiction, as well an upcoming non-fiction about insurance crimes. He can be reached at RLWickliffe@yahoo.com.
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.
