The federal tax-filing deadline has been postponed until July 15 as the nation struggles to contend with the coronavirus pandemic.
Tax Day is now July 15. Here’s what that means.
The Treasury Secretary says that the filing deadline has been pushed back, but that doesn’t mean you should wait.
Sara Morrison was a senior Vox reporter who covered data privacy, antitrust, and Big Tech’s power over us all for the site since 2019.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced the change on March 20 on Twitter. The IRS followed up and tacitly confirmed the new deadline, oddly enough, by retweeting Mnuchin and adding slightly more context.
The news came days after Mnuchin very publicly declared at a White House press conference that taxpayers would have to file by April 15, though they could put off paying any taxes they owed for up to 90 days after the deadline without incurring interest or being penalized. Now, according to Mnuchin’s latest statement, taxpayers can put off filing for up to 90 days as well.
Although the timing of these announcements is a bit confusing, the news isn’t much of a surprise. Mnuchin did say on March 11 that he was recommending pushing the deadline back.
This doesn’t apply to state income tax returns, which, depending on where you live, may still be due on April 15 (if your state has them at all). Many states are following the federal government’s lead: California, Connecticut, Vermont, and Wisconsin, for example, extended their deadlines to match the federal one in the days following Mnuchin’s announcement. But Hawaii, which has April 20 as its tax day, is still deciding whether to move its date. In other words, find out what your state is doing and don’t assume it will push tax day back to July 15.
Mnuchin urged taxpayers who are expecting refunds still to file as soon as possible to get the money they’re owed.
Update, March 23, 2020, 7:25 pm: Updated to reflect new state tax return deadlines.
