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

James Katz is the founder and CEO of Humankind Investments. He is an experienced quantitative equity analyst and data scientist, having worked as an analyst at Vanguard prior to founding Humankind, and holds a PhD from Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

For more than 20 years, Kenneth Saldanha has served the world’s leading P&C, life and reinsurance companies as a trusted advisor and strategy expert. He has helped clients improve their core operations, grow revenue and adopt innovative strategies, even in the most challenging market and economic conditions.

Kenneth now leads Accenture’s global insurance practice, guiding integration of digital, analytics, experience design and workforce solutions, and driving large-scale transformations that help clients reduce structural costs and grow revenue. With his deep understanding of insurance industry economics and market dynamics, he is uniquely positioned to help insurers navigate the challenges of both disruption and convergence with adjacent industries, such as travel, health and freight & logistics.

Kenneth previously led Accenture’s strategy practice in North America. He joined Accenture in 2013 from McKinsey, where he headed the global and North America practices for insurance claims and operations.

Kenneth earned a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1998. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and the youngest of their three children.

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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