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.
Dawn Wagenaar is a brand strategist and principal of Ingenuity Marketing Group, LLC, serving accounting firms across the U.S. Since 1992, Ingenuity Marketing has been helping CPAs, attorneys, financial service professionals, engineers, consultants and other professionals develop their practices. Wagenaar has worked in professional service marketing since 1993 when she began coordinating marketing programs for a regional office of a large national insurance and financial services company. Since then she has directed the marketing efforts of a small local and a large regional CPA firm. Wagenaar has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Augsburg College in Minneapolis as well as a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is a member of the Edina Chamber of Commerce, member of the Legal Marketing Association, past chair of the AAM Conference Committee of the Association for Accounting Marketing, member-at-large for AAM National Board of Directors, and president for AAM Minnesota. Reach her at dawn@ingenuitymarketing.com.
Camilo Atala is the chairman of Grupo Ficohsa.
Anthony Venette, CPA/ABV, MBA, leads Withum's tax valuation services practice. He works with privately held businesses, families, and their advisors on tax planning, strategic estate and business valuation, ownership transitions, mergers and acquisitions, and complex valuation matters.
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.
