Alerts

IRS Extends April 15 Payment and Filing Date For Estate Taxes and Exempt Organizations Due to COVID-19 Emergency

The IRS issued Notice 2020-23 on April 9, 2020, which amplifies Notice 2020-18 and Notice 2020-20 (see our prior coverage here) and provides additional relief to affected taxpayers.

In this Notice 2020-23, the IRS determined that any person (i.e., an individual, trust, estate, partnership, association, company, or corporation) with a specified Federal tax payment obligation or a specified Federal tax return or other form filing obligation which is due to be performed (originally or pursuant to a valid extension) on or after April 1, 2020, and before July 15, 2020, is affected by the COVID-19 emergency.

Notice 2020-23 therefore (i) grants an extension of time to file and pay estate tax returns, and (ii) grants an extension of time to file certain informational returns for charitable organizations. More specifically, the payment and filing obligations specified in Notice 2020-23 have been extended to the following:

  • Estate and generation-skipping transfer tax payments and return filings on forms:

    • 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, 706 NA, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return;
    • 706-A, United States Additional Estate Tax Return;
    • 706-QDT, U.S. Estate Tax Return for Qualified Domestic Trusts;
    • 706-GS(T), Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return for Terminations;
    • 706-GS(D), Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Return for Distributions, and
    • 706-GS(D-1), Notification of Distribution from a Generation Skipping Trust (including the due date for providing such form to a beneficiary);
    • Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, filed pursuant to Revenue Procedure 2017-34;
    • Form 8971, Information Regarding Beneficiaries Acquiring Property from a Decedent and any supplemental Form 8971, including all requirements contained in section 6035(a) of the Code; and
    • Estate tax payments of principal or interest due as a result of an election made under sections 6166, 6161, or 6163 and annual recertification requirements under section 6166 of the Code.

  • Estimated Tax Payments on forms:

    • 1040-ES (Estimated Tax for Individuals);
    • 1040-ES (NR) (U.S. Estimated Tax for Nonresident Alien Individuals);
    • 1040-ES (PR) (Estimated Federal Tax on Self Employment Income and on Household Employees (Residents of Puerto Rico));
    • 1041-ES (Estimated Income Tax for Estates and Trusts); and
    • 1120-W (Estimated Tax for Corporations).

  • Exempt organization payments and return filings for tax-exempt organizations on:

    • Form 990-T, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return (and proxy tax under section 6033(e) of the Code);
    • Form 990-PF, including excise tax payments on investment income, for Private Foundation or Section 4947(a)(1) Trust Treated as Private Foundation;
    • Form 4720, Return of Certain Excise Taxes under Chapters 41 and 42 of the Internal Revenue Code;
    • Form 990-W, for quarterly estimated income tax payments; and
    • Form 1040-ES for estimated tax on Unrelated Business Taxable Income for Tax-Exempt Organizations.

The due date for all such specified returns and payments is automatically postponed until July 15, 2020, without the need to file an extension. If an additional extension is needed beyond July 15, 2020, appropriate paperwork must be filed with the IRS.

We recommend you contact your tax advisors to determine whether you will need to take any action to obtain an extension for any upcoming returns (and taxes) that may be due and keep up to date with additional deferrals issued by the IRS.