Extensions, IRAs, HSAs, and 2016

Yesterday, the IRS released guidance on the July 15th due date. The IRS guidance confirmed my previous post that not all tax filings have been extended. Among the clarifications:

  • Estate and Gift Tax returns (Form 706 and 709) were not extended. This means that if you are filing a Gift Tax return for 2019 you need to either extend your personal return by filing Form 4868 or file a Gift Tax Extension, Form 8992. This is another trap for the unwary: taxpayers who file their individual returns timely in, say, June and concurrently file a Form 709 Gift Tax Return will be filing the Gift Tax return late.
  • The deadline to file tax extensions (Form 4868 for individuals and Form 7004 for C-Corporations and trusts/estates) is July 15th.
  • Second quarter estimated payments are due (for the moment) on June 15th (1st quarter estimated payments are due on July 15th). However, the stimulus bill that will likely pass Congress appears to change the deadline for the 1st through 3rd quarter federal estimated payments to October 15th.
  • The deadline to contribute to an IRA or Roth IRA is now July 15th.
  • You can contribute to an HSA for 2019 until July 15th.
  • If you are filing a claim for refund for 2016, that claim still must be filed by April 15, 2020 to be timely.
  • The IRS changes do not change state tax deadlines. However, many (likely most) states will move to the July 15th deadline.

Kudos to the IRS for getting this out quickly.

One other comment on payments: Tax software companies are working with the IRS to modify tax software to allow scheduling of tax payments after April 15th. This will likely take a couple of weeks to get done as this must be tested by both the software companies and the IRS.

UPDATE: The IRS can now handle payment scheduling through July 15th, and the software company we used announced we can schedule federal tax payments for dates up to July 15th. I’m not sure what will happen with estimated tax payments or the various states at this point, but that’s definitely a step forward.

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