Bill to Postpone Estimated Tax Due Date to be Introduced in Congress
Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R.-Pa., recently announced he will introduce a bill that would postpone the due date for first quarter 2021 estimated tax payments from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. The estimated tax due date would then match the due date for 2020 Forms 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
When the IRS postponed the April 15 deadline for forms in the Form 1040 series, it stated that the change did not apply to estimated tax payments, which nullified the benefit of the postponement for millions of Americans as prior year tax return work often has to be done to calculate current year estimated payments.
Pandemic-related loss of revenue has made it difficult for small businesses to forecast 2021 revenue and properly estimate 2021 tax liability. Practitioners have also questioned how the IRS will handle overpayments of 2020 taxes designated to be applied to 2021 taxes if the overpayment is made on a Form 1040 that is timely filed or extended after April 15.
Tennessee Representatives Fleischmann, Kustoff and Cohen have been supportive of the introduction of the bill, having signed a letter authored by Rep. Smucker and signed by 60 members of Congress requesting the IRS Commissioner extend the tax filing deadline for all.