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.
People who order groceries for delivery may be using digital payments or a plastic card to pay for their food, but the person picking up the groceries may be making a separate payment at the point of pickup — and in the process, influencing the global shift toward contactless payments.
Roger Brown is head of tax & regulatory affairs for Lukka. He has more than 27 years of experience as an international tax and financial products lawyer. He spent a decade in the national office of the IRS writing regulations and other guidance and a similar period as a partner in Ernst & Young’s financial institutions & products office. After being tasked to be lead international tax partner on a number of EY’s largest banking, insurance and other capital markets clients — often bridging the intersection of tax and capital markets regulations — he was one of EY’s leaders in the fintech and blockchain space prior to joining Lukka.
Even digitally savvy organizations face a vexing dilemma when sending emergency funds: The neediest recipients often have little other option than to receive paper checks.
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.
