U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin confirmed Friday that the Internal Revenue Service will delay the 2020 tax filing deadline by three months to ease economic stress on Americans dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
The topic had been widely debated in recent weeks, and just Thursday, Mnuchin said that taxpayers would still need to file their tax returns by April 15.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
At President Donald Trump’s “direction,” he tweeted Friday morning, “we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15.” He added the grace period applies to “all taxpayers and businesses” and that there will be no “interest or penalties” on payments made by the new July 15 deadline. (RELATED: Here’s What Every State In America Is Doing To Combat The Spread Of The Coronavirus)
At @realDonaldTrump’s direction, we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.
— Steven Mnuchin (@stevenmnuchin1) March 20, 2020
Mnuchin has been involved with negotiations with congressional leaders over the past 24 hours to roll out Phase 3 of the White House’s coronavirus stimulus, worth an estimated $1 trillion.
After Trump signed the bill offered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi into law on Wednesday evening, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell entered the Phase 3 legislation, which includes direct payments to American families, relief for small businesses, and discretionary bailout capital for various other industries.
The direct payments — an idea proposed by members of both parties — will be worth up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for families. Mnuchin estimated that Americans would receive the payments three weeks after the Senate passes the Phase 3 bill.