State conformity to the IRS extension for filing 2020 individual income tax returns

On Wednesday, March 17, 2021, the IRS announced in IR-2021-59 that the deadline for filing and paying 2020 federal individual income taxes (Form 1040) was being automatically extended from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. 

However, the IRS did not announce relief for any of the following:

• Tax year 2021 quarterly estimates due on April 15, 2021
• Tax year 2020 filings and payments for any other tax/taxpayer types, such as for C corporations (Form 1120), trusts (Form 1041) or gift tax returns (Form 709)
• Tax year 2020 state income tax returns

State and local income tax extensions

Within two days of the IRS’s announcement, all but eight states (Arizona, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi and Ohio) had announced similar extensions of their 2020 income tax filing deadlines. 

All states offering relief have structured it identically to the IRS’s approach, except the following:

• The District of Columbia’s relief covers corporations, fiduciaries and partnerships.
• Oklahoma’s relief covers corporations, fiduciaries and partnerships, as well as 2021 Q1 estimates.
• Maryland’s relief extends to July 15, 2021.
• In Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia, interest will still be imposed on individual income tax not paid by April 15, 2021.

Wipfli expects that the list of states conforming to the IRS’s deadline extension will grow rapidly in the coming days. For this reason, and due to the potential for further revisions in the IRS’s relief, we recommend closely monitoring this area for further developments.

Charting state and local taxing authority responses

Wipfli has created a chart to provide a summary of state and local taxing authorities’ published guidance regarding any extensions of time to file or pay 2020 income taxes in light of IR-2021-59. 

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