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.
Mike Manalac is a CPA with experience at small, Top 20 and Big Four accounting firms and industry-leading Fortune 500 companies. He is currently an accounting manager at Google, as well as the author and illustrator of the No Flux Given playbook. He also pioneered the introduction of the virtual whiteboard to the accounting world. Reach him at www.mikefromaccounting.com.
Indraneel Chakraborty is a professor in the finance department at Miami Herbert Business School. He has worked for Citadel Investments and Citigroup Global Markets fixed-income divisions.
Elaine Aisyah is the founder and owner of Era Advisory.
She is a CFP and IFP practitioner specializing in Islamic finance, with an emphasis on estate planning. She provides holistic financial solutions to a diverse clientele, spanning from professional, retail and corporate to celebrities. She is based in Malaysia.
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.
