U.S. 2020 Tax Day deadline extended to July following COVID-19 outbreak
![U.S. 2020 Tax Day deadline extended to July following COVID-19 outbreak 1 U.S. 2020 Tax Day deadline extended to July following COVID-19 outbreak 1](https://covid19news.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-20-at-12.42.19-PM.png)
On Friday morning, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced via Twitter that the federal government has extended the deadline for Americans to file their 2019 taxes by three months. Instead of the standard April 15 due date, Americans may now file by July 15, to allow more flexibility while the country faces an economic crisis in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic’s arrival in the U.S.
“At @realDonaldTrump’s direction, we are moving Tax Day from April 15 to July 15,” Mnuchin tweeted out at 9:04 AM UTC. The Treasury Secretary went on to elaborate that taxpayers and businesses would accrue no penalties, fees or interest during the three-month extension.
A second tweet issued just a minute later by Mnuchin encouraged taxpayers to file sooner than later in order to collect their potential tax refunds. Following the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S., many states and regions have ordered many businesses closed until further notice, leading to massive layoffs and applications for federal unemployment benefits.
The filing deadline extension applies only to federal taxes, with individual states either retaining their standard deadlines or extending them according to local ordinance.