Tax Due Date Changes and What They Mean to You

As you probably know, the due date for filing 2019 federal and state income tax returns (for Kansas and Missouri, at least) has been postponed from April 15 to July 15, 2020. The due date for federal estimated tax payments (as well as Missouri) has been postponed to July 15, 2020. The Kansas due date remains April 15, but the state has indicated they will waive applicable interest and penalties as long as estimated tax payments are made by July 15, 2020. You may be wondering how all these due date changes might affect your situation, so here are some scenarios:

• If you’ve already filed your 2019 return, there’s no action necessary.
• If you’re making estimated tax payments, and expect a significant decrease in your 2020 income, you may want to reevaluate whether to pay them. We can help later this year if you need a quick projection. However, at this time so much is unknown it’s hard to predict the ultimate net effect until later this year. If you’re in a cash crunch it may not be necessary to pay your estimated tax. For now you may need to use cash as a gauge, assuming that if you have less available cash you also have less income and therefore will owe less tax.
• If your tax return is in process and you’ve already provided your information to us, your return may not be ready by April 15.
  • We continue to prepare and review tax returns in roughly the order we received them.
  • We’re also working under new circumstances with the distractions of newly passed legislation that impacts a large cross-section of our clients.
  • Thank you for your patience as we continue to work diligently on your behalf. The next possible due date will be June 15 for those clients who have a second quarter estimate due. If we have all of your information, you should expect your tax return well before that date.
• If you have not yet provided us information for your return, you will not receive the communication you are accustomed to about filing an extension on April 15, since those extensions are now due July 15, 2020.
  • Based on the information we have received so far, we expect we will have fewer extensions this year because the July 15 date provides you time to get us those last bits of information and us the time to complete the return without extending.
  • If we don’t have your information by mid-June, we will likely begin considering filing an extension to October 15, 2020. This is a simple process and something that should not at all intimidate anyone. We have a good process in place for extensions that is as relevant and effective this year as it is in any year.

These are our current expectations. Stay tuned for changes to estimated tax payment deadlines or other individual tax provisions that may emerge in future potential legislation. As always, we will endeavor to post relevant information here in the Resources section of our website.