Letter to the Hon. Charles Rettig, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service - Spanberger Calls on IRS to Extend 2020 Tax Filing Deadline to July 15

Letter

Dear Commissioner Rettig,

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, millions of businesses and families across the country continue to experience financial hardship and uncertainty. To address this need and provide assistance to taxpayers struggling to meet the current tax filing deadline of April 15, 2021, I request that you again extend the tax filing deadline to July 15, 2021.

As you are aware, last year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) extended the federal income tax filing due date from April 15th until July 15th in order to be responsive to those taxpayers experiencing health and economic challenges due to the pandemic. This extension deferred federal income tax payments without penalties or interest, which meant that taxpayers did not have to file forms or contact the IRS about payment extensions.

As has been identified by my colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee and by the American Institute of CPAs, many Americans continue to face the same challenges that required extending the filing season last year. In fact, the ongoing backlog of 2019 tax returns, the insufficient capacity of IRS customer service phone lines, and the hundreds of thousands of CP59 notices sent to taxpayers who the IRS claimed did not file a 2019 tax return have only exacerbated the lack of clarity surrounding tax filing this year. This confusion, and the corresponding challenges related to an insufficient ability to plan and save, has been compounded by a condensed filing season that didn't even begin until February 12th, 16 days later than tax season began last year.

Given these compounding challenges, I respectfully request that the IRS extend the tax filing and payment deadlines until July 15, 2021. Such an extension would help eliminate unnecessary taxpayer anxiety during an already stressful period by providing more time to establish clarity and plan for payments. Additionally, this extension would enable the IRS to provide stimulus checks and outstanding 2019 tax refunds to the millions of taxpayers still waiting, thereby simplifying their filing process for this tax season.

Thank you, Commissioner Rettig, for your attention to this critical matter, and for the IRS' work to address the economic impacts of this pandemic. Your swift action on this issue will help alleviate the concerns of taxpayers across our country.

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