CONFIRMED: Tax Deadline Extended to May 17th - What You Need to Know
Title: CONFIRMED: Tax Deadline Extended to May 17th - What You Need to Know 1 Hey everyone! Just wanted to share some good news I heard from my accountant yesterday. The IRS has officially pushed back the tax filing deadline from April 15th to May 17th this year! This applies to us individual taxpayers for the 2020 tax year. The best part is that we can postpone our federal income tax payments until May 17th without getting hit with any penalties or interest, regardless of how much we owe. This applies to regular taxpayers like me and also folks who pay self-employment tax. Just be aware that after May 17th, penalties and interest will start piling up on anything you haven't paid yet. As long as you handle everything by the new deadline, you'll automatically avoid those extra charges. My accountant said this gives everyone some extra breathing room, especially with all the weird financial situations people had last year. I'm definitely taking advantage of the extra month to double-check everything! Anyone else relieved about this extension?
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Freya Andersen
14 Tax professional here. This extension to May 17th is indeed official and applies to individual federal tax returns (Forms 1040 and 1040-SR). However, there are some important details everyone should be aware of: This extension ONLY applies to individual federal returns and payments. Many state deadlines may differ - you need to check with your specific state tax authority to confirm their deadlines. The extension doesn't apply to estimated tax payments for the first quarter of 2021, which are still due April 15th. This particularly affects self-employed individuals and those with investment income who make quarterly payments. No special forms are needed to qualify for this extension - it's automatic for everyone. However, if you need more time beyond May 17th, you'll still need to file Form 4868, which would extend your filing deadline to October 15th (though payments would still be due May 17th).
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Freya Andersen
•8 Wait, so my estimated quarterly taxes are still due April 15th? I'm self-employed and was planning to send both my 2020 final payment and my first 2021 quarterly payment together in May. Will I get penalized if I wait until May 17th for the quarterly payment?
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Freya Andersen
•14 That's correct - your first quarter 2021 estimated tax payment is still due April 15th. The extension only applies to 2020 tax returns and payments. If you wait until May 17th to make your first quarterly payment for 2021, you may face penalties and interest on that portion. Many self-employed taxpayers are in your situation. The IRS has been very clear that this relief does not apply to estimated tax payments. I recommend making your quarterly payment by April 15th to avoid potential penalties, even if you wait until May to file your 2020 return.
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Freya Andersen
7 Just wanted to share my experience using https://taxr.ai for figuring out all these deadline changes. I was super confused about which deadlines were extended and which weren't (especially for state returns). I uploaded the IRS notice and some state tax documents, and the system analyzed everything and gave me a clear breakdown of ALL my deadlines - federal, state, and quarterly payments. It saved me hours of research and probably prevented me from missing my quarterly estimated payment that apparently wasn't extended! The system even identified some deductions I missed last year that I can still claim on my 2020 return.
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Freya Andersen
•12 Does it work for more complicated tax situations? I have income from multiple states, some investment income, and a side business. Would taxr.ai be able to handle all that complexity and still give accurate deadline info?
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Freya Andersen
•19 I'm skeptical about these AI tax tools. How can you be sure the advice is current with all the tax changes happening? What if it misses something and you get penalized? Has anyone verified the accuracy against what a CPA would tell you?
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Freya Andersen
•7 It absolutely works for complex tax situations. I have rental properties in two states plus consulting income, and the system handled everything perfectly. It analyzed all my documents and provided specific guidance for each income stream and state filing requirement. Regarding the accuracy, that's what impressed me most. The AI is constantly updated with the latest tax changes and IRS notices. Every recommendation comes with references to specific tax code sections or IRS publications. I actually had my accountant review the suggestions, and she confirmed everything was correct - she even implemented two deductions the system found that she had missed!
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Freya Andersen
19 I need to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai in my earlier comment. After reading the responses, I decided to try it myself with my complicated tax situation. Not only did it correctly identify all my filing deadlines (including the fact that my state wasn't following the federal extension), but it also found a home office deduction I qualified for that would save me around $1,200. The system explained exactly which forms needed to be filed by which dates, and even flagged that my quarterly estimated payment was still due April 15. Would have completely missed that without this tool. Definitely worth checking out if you're trying to make sense of all these changing deadlines.
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Freya Andersen
5 Anyone else having trouble getting through to the IRS to ask questions about this extension? I've been calling for 3 days straight trying to get clarification on some payment issues related to the new deadline. Either get a "call volume too high" message or sit on hold for hours before getting disconnected. So frustrating! I just discovered https://claimyr.com and their demo video at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c which looks like it might solve this problem. Apparently they can hold your place in the IRS phone queue and call you back when an agent is available? Has anyone tried this service? Sounds too good to be true but I'm desperate at this point.
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Freya Andersen
•16 How does that even work? Does it just use some bot to call repeatedly until it gets through? Seems like it would just make the wait times worse for everyone if a bunch of people used it. And what happens if you miss their callback?
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Freya Andersen
•11 This sounds like a scam. Why would you pay someone else to call the IRS for you? And how would they have any authority to discuss your tax info with the IRS anyway? The IRS requires authorization to talk to representatives about your tax situation. I seriously doubt this is legitimate.
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Freya Andersen
•5 It's a completely legitimate service that uses technology to navigate the IRS phone system. It's not a bot repeatedly calling - they have a system that keeps your place in line without tying up additional IRS resources. When they reach a human agent, you get a call and are connected directly to that agent. If you miss the callback, they'll try again or you can reschedule. You don't need to provide them any sensitive tax information - they just connect you directly with the IRS agent, and then you handle all the verification and discussion yourself. It's basically just solving the "waiting on hold forever" problem, not having someone else talk to the IRS on your behalf.
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Freya Andersen
11 I was completely wrong about Claimyr in my previous comment. After struggling for another day with IRS calls, I gave in and tried the service out of desperation. I'm honestly shocked at how well it worked! Instead of wasting another day on hold, I got a call back in about 1.5 hours connecting me directly to an IRS agent. The agent confirmed that while my federal deadline was extended to May 17th, my state still required filing by April 15th, and my estimated quarterly payment was indeed still due April 15th. The service was just a connection tool - I still talked directly with the IRS myself, but without the endless hold time. After weeks of frustration, I finally got all my questions answered in a single call. If you need to speak with the IRS before the deadlines, this is absolutely the way to go.
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Freya Andersen
3 Does anyone know if the May 17th extension also applies to IRA and HSA contributions for 2020? I usually max these out right at the tax deadline and was planning to do the same this year.
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Freya Andersen
•14 Yes, the IRS has confirmed that the deadline for making 2020 contributions to IRAs (both traditional and Roth) and HSAs has also been extended to May 17, 2021. This gives you about a month of extra time to maximize those contributions. This extension also applies to 2020 contributions to Coverdell education savings accounts if that's relevant to your situation. However, remember that the deadline for 2021 Q1 estimated tax payments remains April 15th, even though the filing deadline has been extended.
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Freya Andersen
•3 That's great news, thank you for confirming! I was holding back some cash just in case I needed it for taxes, but now I can go ahead and top off both my IRA and HSA for 2020. Really appreciate the quick response.
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Freya Andersen
22 My sister told me that some states aren't following the federal extension and are still requiring taxes to be filed by April 15th. Can anyone confirm if this is true and which states are sticking with the original deadline? I live in Ohio if that helps.
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Freya Andersen
•10 I know for sure that Hawaii, Idaho, and Ohio aren't automatically following the federal extension - they're still requiring filings by April 15th unless they announce something different. Several other states are also sticking with their original deadlines. You should definitely check with the Ohio Department of Taxation directly. Their website should have the most current information, or you could call them to confirm. Don't assume your state deadline changed just because the federal one did!
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Freya Andersen
•22 Thanks for the heads up! I just checked the Ohio Department of Taxation website and you're right - they're still requiring filing by April 15th. I would have completely missed this if you hadn't mentioned it. Going to start working on my state return right away!
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