Whether you run your own small business, pay your quarterly taxes as a self-employed independent contractor or just have had too much on your plate in recent weeks to think about filing your annual tax return, you probably know that the longer you wait to file your return and pay outstanding taxes you still owe, the more interest and penalties the IRS will assess against your balance of taxes owed.
Historically, Tax Day in the United States is April 15, with the exception of years where that day falls on a Sunday. Both federal and state tax returns typically must gets filed by April 15. Unless your return is electronically submitted by the 15th or your mailed return and tax payment has a postmark of April 15 or earlier, you may worry about those penalties that the IRS will assess you.
For those who have yet to file a 2019 tax return, there is good news. Specifically, the IRS decided to extend tax season for 2019, which means you still have multiple weeks in which to file your return or put aside money to pay on your outstanding balance of taxes owed for your 2019 income.
What is the new deadline for 2019 taxes?
The Internal Revenue Service made a strategic decision this year to extend tax filings to help offset disruptions in incomes and business operations. Instead of extending the filing date indefinitely, the deadline essentially received an extension of one whole financial quarter or three months.
Typically, June 15 of each year is when the second installment for quarterly taxes must get paid for independent contractors and businesses. This year, the due date for 2019 taxes will be a month later than that second installment due date. July 15 is now the filing deadline for 2019 taxes.
How this extension could benefit you
If you haven’t yet paid your taxes, concerns about the additional charges you might incur due to the delay may have contributed substantially to your stress levels over the last few weeks since the filing deadline passed.
If you owe taxes, it can be difficult to budget to send a lump-sum payment to the government. The extended deadline will make it easier for those who must save in order to pay their taxes by allowing them to spread out the contributions over more weeks. That means that while you will still have to pay the same amount, it will have less of an immediate impact on your financial solvency.