IRS postpones April 15 tax deadline for Texas residents, businesses
Relief applies to people who live in Lone Star state and anyone who has a business there
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service extended the April 15 tax-filing and payment deadline to June 15 for all residents and businesses in Texas, citing the damage caused by the recent winter storms and power outages in the state.
The delay also gives Texans more time for other tax-related filings, including estimated-tax payments, payroll-tax returns and contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts. The delays are automatic, meaning that taxpayers don’t have to file forms to obtain the benefits. The relief applies to people who live in Texas—more than 8% of Americans—and to people who have businesses there.
Residents of other states affected by the same storms and accompanying disaster declarations may also qualify for the same delay; the IRS will update the list of eligible locations on its disaster-relief website.
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The delays come amid some pressure from Congress to delay the tax deadlines more broadly.
A group of Democrats on the Ways and Means Committee last week asked the IRS to delay the April 15 deadline, citing the late start to the tax-filing season and continued difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic.
This Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019 file photo shows part of a 1040 federal tax form printed from the Internal Revenue Service website, in Zelienople, Pa. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
“For starters, health and safety concerns continue to keep taxpayer assistance sites closed and taxpayers homebound,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D., N.J.). “As a result, taxpayers are having a much harder time receiving the crucial assistance they are accustomed to and require.”
The IRS opened tax filing this year on Feb. 12, later than usual, to accommodate late changes in the tax law in December.
The agency received 20 million returns that day, down from the 40 million it had received by roughly the same time last year, according to Ways and Means Committee Democrats.
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So far, the IRS hasn’t postponed deadlines for taxpayers outside the Texas disaster area.
Last year, as the coronavirus pandemic was starting, the government delayed the April 15 tax-filing deadline until July 15.