On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Charles Rettig calling on the IRS to push back the deadline for filing 2020 taxes until July 15th.
Crist’s call to extend the filing deadline by three months comes after the passage of COVID relief legislation, the American Rescue Plan, which included changes to the way unemployment benefits and the Paycheck Protection Program are taxed, including reforming the Employee Retention Tax Credit which are in the process of being implemented.
“The American Rescue Plan is bringing relief to families and communities across our state and country,” said Crist. “But the welcome relief includes positive changes to our tax laws that families, small business owners, and unemployed workers will need more time to figure out before filing their taxes. Extending the IRS filing deadline by at least three months is a commonsense solution giving Americans the time they need to get their taxes done right.”
Crist’s letter is below.
Dear Commissioner Rettig,
I am writing to share growing concerns from my constituents and tax professionals throughout my district surrounding the April 15, 2021 tax filing and payment deadline. Due to the unique challenges and uncertainty created by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and new information from the American Rescue Plan, I believe maintaining the April 15th deadline would not serve taxpayers nor the Internal Revenue Service.
As you are well-aware, there are several impactful tax-related issues that motivate the need to delay the deadline including: (1) delayed start for 2020 filing season, (2) tax uncertainty for first and second round PPP loans, (3) changes to the employee retention credit (ERC), (4) delays and erroneous notices processing 2019 returns, (5) IRS staffing shortfalls and resulting impacts, and (6) changes to tax law from the American Rescue Plan.
For those reasons, I request you delay the deadline for 2020 tax filing until July 15, 2021. This would give taxpayers time to file, understand what the American Rescue Plan means for them, and shield IRS from receiving preventable 1040x revision forms. Thank you for consideration of this request.
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