While Congress and the Internal Revenue Service are considering various forms of tax relief in connection with the COVID-19 virus, the situation remains fluid.  To date, the only concrete action taken was the announcement on March 17, 2020 by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the IRS will not assess penalties and interest on any individual income tax liability of less than $1 million ($10 million for corporate income tax) for a period of 90 days.  Technical assistance from the IRS is expected shortly.    In effect, provided your income tax liability is below those thresholds, the individual and C corporation income tax payment would be due July 14, 2020 and any S corporation income tax payment (built in gains tax, for example) would be due June 15, 2020.   However, there is no like extension for filing the tax return, meaning that an individual has to file an individual or C corporation return by April 15 (March 15 for S corporations) or file an extension.

The Senate is currently considering HR 6201 – the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act – which has already passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate this week.  While the bill contains a number of non-tax related relief measures, of interest are credits against the income tax for paid leave, including a credit for self employed individuals.

We will alert you upon passage of the final bill and summarize its highlights.

Finally, given the rapid escalation of the crisis, additional tax relief is expected.  We will keep you posted of any further developments.  As always, if you have any questions, you may contact our tax partner Jay Lobrano at 504-433-3100.