IRS Pushes Tax Deadline Back One Month to May 17

For the second year in a row, the IRS has decided to postpone the April 15th tax filing deadline. The new date is May 17.

Details are forthcoming but the decision to delay the date was called for by many. The agency agreed with The American Institute of CPAs, the National Association of Tax Professionals, and lawmakers who called for the filing deadline to be pushed back. Last year, the tax deadline was extended until July 15.

Cause for Postponement

A variety of factors contributed to the postponement. For instance, this year posed a great challenge for taxpayers, preparers, and the IRS itself.  Among them was the latest round of $1,400 checks to qualifying households, approved earlier this month. This came in the midst of the current, truncated tax season that was also delayed and opened on Feb. 12.

The agency also has a backlog of millions of individual and business returns it hasn’t yet processed from last year. Plus, complicating matters further, the IRS is expecting to receive more returns than usual. Why? Well, it’s because individuals must file a return to claim any COVID-19 money they are entitled to – but did not receive automatically.

Unemployment Benefits are Taxable

Many people who collected unemployment benefits don’t realize that funds received are taxable. When filing this year’s return, it’s important to remember that if you collected unemployment, to have the document stating how much you received.

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