Illinois Income Tax Filing and Payment Extension

Please note that this blog is based on laws effective March 26, 2020 and may not contain later amendments. Please contact Cray Kaiser for most recent information.

Illinois taxpayers received welcome relief on March 25 as Illinois largely followed the Internal Revenue Service guidance on the April 15, 2020 tax deadline.

The 2019 income tax filing and payment deadlines for all taxpayers who file and pay their Illinois income taxes on April 15, 2020 are automatically extended until July 15, 2020. This automatic relief applies to all individual returns, trusts, and corporations. These taxpayers will automatically avoid interest and penalties on any taxes due that are paid by July 15, 2020. Penalties and interest will begin to accrue on any remaining unpaid balances as of July 16, 2020, same as payments due to the Internal Revenue Service.

Note: This does NOT impact the first and second installments of Illinois estimated payments for 2020 taxes that are due April 15 and June 15. Taxpayers are required to estimate their tax liability for the year and submit quarterly installments as normal.

Further guidance from the IRS regarding the federal tax filing extension:

No limit on amount subject to relief
Our last update indicated that there would be caps on the amount of taxes due that would be subject to relief from interest and penalties. The cap has since been lifted; therefore, no interest or penalty will accrue on federal income taxes due on April 15, 2020 but not paid until July 15, 2020. This is a welcome relief to larger corporations and high net worth individuals.
Clarification on which tax forms are eligible for the automatic extension
Not only individuals qualify for the automatic extension. Trusts, estates, and various corporations with an April 15, 2020 due date also receive the automatic filing and payment extension to July 15, 2020.
Clarification on which tax forms are not extended
The IRS notes that normal filing, payment, and deposit due dates continue to apply to both payroll and excise taxes. Additionally, estate and gift taxes do not receive a payment or filing extension.
Federal estimated tax due dates remain confusing
As we write this today, technically, the 1^st quarter 2020 federal estimated tax payment is now due on July 15, 2020. However, there has been no update to the due date for the 2^nd quarter federal estimated tax payment, so it remains due on June 15, 2020. Confusing, indeed! We hope to receive clarification and perhaps an extension of the due date of the 2^nd quarter estimated tax payment. For now, plan on paying a quarterly estimate on both June 15, 2020 and July 15, 2020 until we receive further guidance.
Confirmation of due date for Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) IRA deposits
The IRS has indicated that these deposits are also due on July 15, 2020.

CK OFFICE OPERATIONS

These are certainly trying times and we want to reiterate that Cray Kaiser is here for you. As things continue to evolve in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we at CK are taking additional precautions for the benefit of our team members and our clients.

Effective immediately:

No clients or guests will be allowed in our suite.
All in-person meetings are cancelled. Instead, we will be utilizing phone calls and/or email to communicate with our clients.
Our team members are being encouraged to work remotely. All staff are equipped with the appropriate technology and resources to continue to securely and confidentially serve you from home.
We will no longer have in-person drop offs of accounting/tax data. Instead, please drop off any packages outside the office door of our suite in the box provided.
All paper files, tax returns etc. will no longer be mailed by our office to you. We will be holding these items in our office to send to you at a later date.

CK PORTAL ACCESS

We want to remind our clients of our portal access and your ability to safely and securely share your information with our team. We ask that you email efile@craykaiser.com to request your portal access. This will eliminate the need for you to drop off your tax information at our office.

MOVING FORWARD

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this challenging time. We wish you, your family, and your business health and safety. We will continue to support you as best as we can while keeping each other’s health a priority. If any changes occur during the course of the next few days, we will update our website.