Gottheimer, Mitchell urge the IRS to delay tax filing deadline

On Friday, March 13, 2020, U.S. Representatives Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and Paul Mitchell (MI-10) urged the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to extend the deadline for tax filings for individuals and business filers by ninety days. This request is in direct response to the impact that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is having on North Jersey.

“This would allow individuals more flexibility to pay for their housing, childcare for children who may be unable to attend school, or medical care and health products to care for ailing family members, and small businesses the cash flow to keep their doors open and pay their workers at a time where consumer demand is unpredictable,” Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) wrote in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig today. “It is imperative that we take immediate action and work to provide certainty for individuals and small businesses at a time where we are facing a public health crisis and volatility in the market. Now, more than ever, Americans need relief from filing and payment penalties. For those communities that are currently impacted by COVID-19, the focus should be on the health and safety of themselves, their families, and their community.”

This request would extend the deadline for tax filings for individual and business filers from the current date of April 15, 2020, until July 14, 2020. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stated when he testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs on March 11, 2020, that the authority to enact this filing delay is possible to provide without Congressional action.