ST. PAUL -- U.S. Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., is introducing a to extend Americans' tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Treasury Department has already announced that it will extend the 2019 tax payment deadline to July. But in a Thursday, March 19 news release from Thune's office, the South Dakota Republican said extending the filing deadline is important for taxpayers who need to travel in order to obtain tax documents, or meet with an accountant, but can't because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
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Thune called the Treasury's payment extension "an important first step," but "it only makes sense to also extend the tax filing deadline itself."
鈥淭here鈥檚 enough confusion amid this outbreak as it is, so I believe it鈥檚 incumbent upon Congress to provide as much clarity and relief as possible to American families," he said.
Edward Karl, vice president of tax policy and advocacy for the Association of International Certified Public Accountants, said in Thursday's release that this is an "unprecedented time" with taxpayers and practitioners already facing pandemic, let alone "finding it increasingly difficult to comply with upcoming filing deadlines."
Both the U.S. House and Senate have in response to the pandemic. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by exposure to coronavirus, and has paralyzed normal life as it spreads throughout the country.
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