The Wall Street Journal has a story (pay link) this morning speculating that the Department of the Treasury will push back the April 15th deadline. There are no specifics given in the story, but given that politicians on both sides of the aisle are talking about this, there’s a reasonable chance this will happen.
The reason, of course, is the current coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. As the outbreak worsens (which, it appears, it will), there will be disruptions. Consider tax professionals in Seattle, where a large number of individuals have fallen ill. Do you want to meet with someone right now, especially given asymptomatic individuals can spread the disease? And for those who are ill (or are treating family members, or who have to deal witch their children who are now home on an extended ‘break’) they have more important things to deal with.
It’s something I, as a business owner, have to deal with. We wash our hands after seeing someone, but let’s face reality: we operate in close quarters. If one of us gets this, it’s likely that all of us in the office would get this. As for working at home, that’s near impossible for our office given the technology infrastructure we use.
I had initially thought we would see a larger number of extensions (and it’s something I think still could happen). I now suspect we will see this extension–probably something similar to the automatic two-month extension given to individuals outside the United States on April 15th. Whether it will include a waiving of interest is to be determined.
I’ll close with something that’s obvious. This week long-time clients called me and said they had colds, and wished to postpone their appointment. We fit them in in two weeks. If you’re sick, use some common sense (be it a cold, the flu, or anything else): Don’t take actions that will infect others! We have a rule in our office that if you have a fever, you go home, and you cannot come into work until 24 hours after the fever has broke. If all of us use some common sense and good hygiene, we will likely whether this storm with minimal damage.
Tags: 2020.Tax.Season