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.
David DeLeon is the North America fraud and financial crime lead in Accenture's finance risk compliance practice.
Dan Savickas is vice president of policy and government affairs at Taxpayers Protection Alliance.
Joe Carufe is a CAS evangelist and co-founder of Good Measure, a fast-growing cloud bookkeeping firm known for its people-first culture and operational rigor. With over a decade scaling CAS practices and onboarding 500+ firms at Karbon, he helps accounting leaders design modern, flexible firms that attract top talent and deliver high-impact client outcomes.
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.
