Coronavirus-delayed federal tax deadline is fast-approaching July 15
HOUSTON - A gentle reminder that the federal tax-filing deadline is just over a week away.
The traditional April date was extended to July 15, because of the spreading COVID-19 pandemic. Now, millions of procrastinating taxpayers are expected to scramble to meet the filing deadline.
Pandemic-delayed July 15 tax day is approaching: Here’s what you need to know
Houston CPA Douglas Hord says he's already heard from some of them.
"I've had five people, who've emailed me for the first time this year say, 'Oh hey, I need to get you my stuff. I'm like, right now, you're going to get an extension," says Hord.
Extending the federal tax deadline virtually guaranteed people would wait, and with good reason. IRS operations have slowed to a crawl, as much of the staff was sent home to shelter from the pandemic, and a backlog of paperwork was left behind.
"There's no one answering the phone and there's no one processing paper tax returns or exceptions," says Hord, "If the computer system won't, automatically, process a return: it gets kicked-out for a human review. None of that is happening."
Still, the IRS insists Tax Day is coming, so filers need to collect the paperwork that documents their financial lives: income, investment performance, appropriate credits, and deductions. There's a chance that some of those documents have been misplaced, requiring some proactive efforts to get replacements.
"All the banks, the mortgage companies, the finance companies; you can pull all that stuff down from your account login," says Douglas Hord,"People don't really think about that."
As the IRS continues to struggle with handling discrepancies in a timely manner, with limited human interaction, taxpayers could be penalized and delayed by the tiniest mistakes.
Douglas Hord suggests those who can't get their paperwork in order, or who haven't even started, would rest easier asking for another extension to finish. The request will be granted, but any outstanding payments will still be required by the deadline.