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.
Eran Kinsbruner is the lead technical evangelist at Perfecto and author of the Digital Quality Handbook and Continuous Testing for DevOps Professionals books. He is formerly the chief technology officer for mobile testing and Texas Instruments project manager at Matrix. Eran has been in testing since 1999 with experience that includes managing teams at ADT, Sun Microsystems, General Electric, and NeuStar. You can find Eran on Facebook, Twitter @ek121268, LinkedIn, and on his professional mobile testing blog at https://continuoustesting.blog/.
Chet Stagnaro is a consultant for Freed Associates.
Brady Teague is a principal and co-founder of TalentBridge. He is a former Big Four firm CPA, but has spent the past 20 years in executive recruiting, specializing in accounting and finance. TalentBridge is based in Rochester, N.Y., with offices in Charlotte, N.C.; Des Moines, Iowa; Minneapolis, Minn.; and St. Louis, Mo. TalentBridge’s services include executive and professional search; professional and project staffing; temporary and contract staffing; human resource consulting; outplacement and career transition support.
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.
