IRS Delays Tax-Filing Deadline Until Mid-May

WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service delayed the main April 15 tax-filing and payment deadlines for individuals until May 17, giving taxpayers and preparers a bit of breathing room in an unusually complicated tax season.

The move comes after lawmakers and accountants urged the government to allow more time to complete 2020 tax returns and adjust to tax-law changes implemented during the pandemic.

The tax-filing season started later than usual and has been challenging for taxpayers dealing with the effects of last year’s economic disruptions and late changes to the tax law. Typical in-person assistance, which can be particularly valuable for low-income filers, has been more complicated this year as well.

The automatic extension applies to individual returns and payments for 2020 that are due on April 15; they will be extended to May 17 without penalties and interest. It doesn’t apply to 2021 estimated-tax payments due on April 15, the IRS said late Wednesday. Many questions remain unanswered, including whether states will follow suit and extend their income-tax deadlines.

The IRS, seeking a return to something resembling its normal schedule after 2020, had been reluctant to change the deadline. It delayed the start of the filing season to Feb. 12 from the typical late January date so it had time to implement tax-law changes that Congress wrote in December. Calls for another delay came this month as Congress changed 2020 tax law again.