IRS delays income tax filing deadline

Nevadans will have additional time to file returns this year.

The IRS and the Treasury Department said Wednesday that it will push back its April 15 deadline for filing tax returns by more than a month, to May 17.

The agencies said that it will provide formal guidance in the coming days.

IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig encouraged taxpayers to file as early as possible despite the new deadline.

“This continues to be a tough time for many people, and the IRS wants to continue to do everything possible to help taxpayers navigate the unusual circumstances related to the pandemic, while also working on important tax administration responsibilities,” Rettig said in a statement.

Congressional leaders from the House Committee on Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over the nationa’s taxation policy, said in a press release Wednesday that the IRS decision will give Americans more breathing room to file their 2020 tax returns.

“This extension is absolutely necessary to give Americans some needed flexibility in a time of unprecedented crisis,” House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., said in a release Wednesday. “Under titanic stress and strain, American taxpayers and tax preparers must have more time to file tax returns.”

The IRS’ extension decision comes a day after a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the IRS and Treasury to move the deadline, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and last-minute changes from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan which was signed into law March 11.

That letter was signed by more than 100 House representatives, including members of the Nevada congressional delegation: Reps. Susie Lee, Dina Titus and Steven Horsford.

Among the provisions within the $1.9 trillion stimulus package is a tax exemption on up to $10,200 of jobless benefits.

The agency’s tax deadline push also comes as the IRS is in the midst of another Herculean task: Sending out a third-round of stimulus checks, at $1,400 each, to American households.

So far, the IRS said it has paid out approximately 90 million payments in its first batch, totaling $242 billion, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

The agency is grappling with a massive backlog that has left it unable to fully process 24 million tax filings from individuals and businesses since the 2019 tax year.

Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter.