WASHINGTON — American taxpayers will have until July 15 to file their tax returns, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday, a move intended to offer additional reprieve to individuals and companies in the middle of the coronavirus.
The move follows an earlier decision by the Treasury Department, at the direction of President Trump, to allow individuals and companies to defer tax payments until July 15.
Guidance released this week said individual taxpayers can defer up to $1 million of federal income tax, and companies can defer up to $10 million of tax payments for 90 days. The Internal Revenue Service plans to publish formal guidance on the tax filing delay on Friday, a Treasury spokesman said.
Mr. Mnuchin has said that delaying tax payments will inject $300 billion of temporary liquidity into the United States economy. For those expecting a refund, he encouraged taxpayers to file by April 15 so that they can receive those funds.
The move by the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service does not affect state income taxes, but some states have started announcing their own delays.
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation said on Friday that the Treasury Department should also move to delay estimated tax payments that are due in mid-June until later in the year.
“More relief is needed,” said Nicole Kaeding, the vice president for policy promotion at the foundation.
Representative Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, on Friday applauded the decision to delay Tax Day.
“This action will help protect seniors and others who are more vulnerable and may need extra time and help filing their taxes,” he said.
Representative Bill Pascrell Jr., Democrat of New Jersey and a member of the Ways and Means Committee, noted that the delay would be automatic for all Americans and that taxpayers would not need to request extensions.
“This is small but needed flexibility,” he said.
The latest I.R.S. statistics show that 76,191,000 tax returns have already been filed for the current tax season.