Tax deadlines for IRAs

IRS delays tax deadlines for IRAs, health savings until May

But the IRS emphasized that it is not delaying the deadline for making estimated tax payments, on income that isn’t subject to withholding, as some have demanded.

By BRIAN FALER

The IRS announced Monday that it is kicking several more tax deadlines into next month — though not the one some really want to see postponed.

The agency said it was delaying until May 17, from April 15, the deadlines for making 2020 contributions to individual retirement accounts, health savings accounts and Coverdell education savings accounts.

But the IRS emphasized that it is not delaying the deadline for making estimated tax payments, on income that isn’t subject to withholding, as some have demanded.

The plan “does not alter the April 15, 2021, deadline for estimated tax payments; these payments are still due on April 15,” the department said.

The announcement comes after the IRS said earlier this month that it is putting off the traditional April 15 deadline for filing 1040 tax forms for the second consecutive year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

At a congressional hearing earlier this month, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig rebuffed requests from lawmakers to similarly bump the estimated-tax deadline, saying that would mostly benefit the rich.

“There’s a large contingent of wealthy individuals in this country who do not make their estimated payments,” Rettig told a Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. “We’re not going to give them a break on interest and penalties.”

Said Veronica Vera, a spokesperson for the American Institute of CPAs: “Estimated quarterly payments are not exclusive to the ‘wealthy.’”

“The decision to exclude estimated payments in the relief granted by the IRS ignores the challenges being faced by many who have become self-employed, such as food delivery workers” and “small businesses who are struggling to remain open,” she said.