Notice 2020-18, expanded by Notice 2020-20, provides welcome economic relief from filing and payment obligations for certain federal taxes; however, traps for the unwary exist.

Tax Deadline – Key Points:

..On March 20, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-18, automatically postponing until July 15, 2020 the deadline to file federal income tax returns and make certain federal income tax payments ordinarily due April 15, 2020. Taxpayers are not subject to interest, penalties, or additions to tax if such postponed federal income tax filings and payments are timely made under the new deadline. The covered payments are federal income tax payments for the 2019 taxable year and federal estimated income tax payments for the first quarter of the 2020 taxable year, without the dollar limits that had been previously announced in Notice 2020-17.

..On March 24, 2020, the IRS published additional guidance on its website about the application of the relief granted in Notice 2020-18 and, on March 27, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-20, which extends the relief described in Notice 2020-18 beyond federal income taxes.

..Notice 2020-20 automatically postpones until July 15, 2020 payments of federal gift taxes and federal generation-skipping transfer taxes, as well the filing of any federal gift and generation-skipping transfer tax returns, ordinarily due on April 15, 2020. Taxpayers are not subject to interest, penalties, or additions to tax if such postponed filings and payments are timely made under the new deadline.

..Notice 2020-18 and Notice 2020-20 do not extend the time for the payment or deposit of any other type of federal tax or for the filing of any federal information return.