IRS and New Jersey Extend Tax Deadline for Individuals to May 17

IRS and New Jersey Extend Tax Deadline for Individuals to May 17

March 19, 2021

The Treasury Department and IRS announced today that the federal income tax filing due date for individuals for the 2020 tax year will be automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. The IRS will be providing formal guidance in the coming days.

Individual taxpayers can also postpone federal income tax payments for the 2020 tax year due on April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. This postponement applies to individual taxpayers, including individuals who pay self-employment tax. Penalties, interest and additions to tax will begin to accrue on any remaining unpaid balances as of May 17, 2021. Individual taxpayers will automatically avoid interest and penalties on the taxes paid by May 17.

Individual taxpayers do not need to file any forms or call the IRS to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and payment relief. Individual taxpayers who need additional time to file beyond the May 17 deadline can request a filing extension until Oct. 15 by filing Form 4868, but taxpayers still need to pay their federal income tax due by May 17, 2021, to avoid interest and penalties.

Selective Extension

The relief does not include estimated tax payments that are due on April 15 by millions of small business owners and individuals who pay estimated taxes. The extension also does not include the following:

• Trust income tax payments and return filings on Form 1041
• Corporate income tax payments and return filings on various Forms 1120

The AICPA and NJCPA are asking Members of Congress to call on the IRS to immediately give tax payment and filing relief to all taxpayers — and we need your help and that of your impacted small business clients. 

Please email your U.S. Representative and both Senators today to share your concerns – and ask your impacted small business clients to reach out and tell their stories, too. We’ve made it easy for you: Our online tool will identify your Congressional representatives based on your zip code and provide a templated email that you can send as is or modify.

New Jersey Filing Deadline

On March 19, New Jersey announced that the state income tax filing and payment due date for individuals for the 2020 tax year will be automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021, to mirror actions taken by the IRS. This extension applies to individual taxpayers, including individuals who pay self-employment tax. However, unlike last year, first quarter 2021 individual estimated tax payments are not being extended and will still be due on April 15. No additional forms are required to qualify for this extension.

At the same time, the NJCPA is advocating to make sure that New Jersey continues to match any subsequent IRS extensions. To this end, legislation has already been introduced by Senator Paul Sarlo that would extend the April 15, 2021, GIT and CBT filing and payment deadlines, and the March 15, 2021, PTE filing and payment deadline (which is currently on an April 15 grace period), to May 17, 2021. 

We will provide updates as they become available.