Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin prepares to deliver remarks on the coronavirus relief package after the Senate Republican Policy luncheon in Russell Building on Tuesday, March 17, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call | Getty Images
The IRS is moving its national income tax filing day ahead to July 15 as part of a growing effort to stem the financial pain fromthe coronavirus pandemic, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Friday.
The move gives Americans three months more than they otherwise would have to file their income tax returns.
“At @realDonaldTrump‘s direction, we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15,” Mnuchin wrote in a tweet about the extension.
“All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.”
In a second tweet, Mnuchin urged taxpayers who might receive refunds this season “to file now to get your money.”
Mnuchin’s advice is underscored by the fact that as of March 6, the Internal Revenue Service had issued 52.7 million refunds out of the 67.9 million individual income tax returns it had received.
The average refund check was $3,012, according to IRS data.
A proposal to move the filing deadline to July was included in the Senate’s coronavirus economic stimulus bill released Thursday night by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
That proposed relief package could cost more than $1 trillion.
Earlier this week, the Treasury Department released guidance that would have pushed back just the deadline for making tax payments to July 15. That 90-day reprieve on payments would have applied to 2019 income taxes owed, plus first quarter tax payments that would have been due on April 15.
But federal lawmakers and members of the tax preparation community had criticized the proposal to have different dates for filing tax returns and making payments.
The White House had no immediate comment on Mnuchin’s announcement.
– Additional reporting by Kevin Breuninger
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