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.
Eric J. Spitler, adjunct professor of law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, served as director of legislative affairs for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Latisha Carter, head of partner at Xero, helps lead all partner growth channels across Xero’s U.S. sales organization. Her teams are focused on regional and enterprise partner consulting. She previously served as head of partner services at Xero and brings 19 years of experience in the accounting software industry where she held different positions across marketing, sales and professional services throughout her career at Sage. She is based in Atlanta.
Charles Reiling is president and CEO of CoastalOne, an independent broker-dealer (Coastal Equities) and registered investment advisor (Coastal Investment Advisors) hybrid platform based in Wilmington, Delaware.
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.



