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

Scott Smith is co-founder and chief operating officer at Fizz, a money app for students. He previously studied finance, economics, accounting and real estate at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration.

Patrick Nelli is the CEO & Founder of Aligned Marketplace. Prior to Aligned Marketplace, Patrick spent a decade at Health Catalyst (HCAT), a data and analytics company focused on supporting some of the largest healthcare organizations in the country, where he was President and Chief Financial Officer and helped take the company public. At Health Catalyst, he helped build value-based care analytics for some of the largest ACOs in the country in pursuit of Health Catalyst's mission to deliver data-informed improvement. Patrick's passion is to drive as much healthcare improvement as possible through innovation.

Sandy Kaul is head of innovation at Franklin Templeton.

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.

IRS-Building-light
The IRS headquarters building in Washington, D.C.
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