Written by: Elissa Wurf, PhD, CPA, EA

Please see our Tax Update blog post written April 15, 2020 for the most up-to-date tax information. 

This blog post was updated on March 30, 2020.

On March 21, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-18, extending the due date to file 2019 federal income tax returns as well as the due date to file Q1 2020 estimated tax payments on federal income taxes to July 15th. This relief applies to Federal income tax payments only and not any other type of federal tax.  Currently, federal Q2 estimated tax payments are due June 15th, making Q2 payments due before Q1 payments, but this could change.

State tax payment deadlines are determined by each state.  In Virginia, the due date to pay 2019 state income tax has been extended to June 1, 2020.  Virginia has a “balanced budget” rule and a June 30th fiscal year-end .  Consequently, the deadline to file Virginia state income tax remains May 1st with an automatic six-month extension to file. But, as the Virginia Department of Taxation website reports, “If you file during the extension period, make sure you still pay any taxes owed by June 1, 2020 to avoid penalties.”  For further information on Virginia tax deadlines this year, see https://www.tax.virginia.gov/news/coronavirus-updates

Pennsylvania has extended its state income tax deadline to July 15th to match the federal deadline.  Pennsylvania extended the deadline for estimated tax payments for both Q1 and Q2 to July 15th as well.  They also extended the deadline for the Renter’s and Property Tax Rebate for older tax payers until year-end.  Since Pennsylvania local tax deadlines always coincide with the state tax deadlines, the deadline to file Earned Income Tax Returns and estimates is extended as well. Pennsylvania’s site for tracking updates to tax news is at https://www.revenue.pa.gov/Pages/COVID19.aspx

If you live in a state other than Virginia or Pennsylvania, you can find a listing of each state’s tax department at https://www.taxadmin.org/state-tax-agencies.  Over the past week, most states have set up COVID-19 announcements or special pages that show updates to the state tax deadlines.

If you have any tax-related questions, please contact your financial strategist or anyone on our Financial Planning team.