As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak continues, the Internal Revenue Service is taking multiple steps to protect our employees, America's taxpayers and our partners. Although we are curtailing some operations during this period, the IRS is continuing with mission-critical functions to support the nation, and that includes accepting tax returns and sending refunds.

See complete IRS Operations statement at IRS.gov.

2. Tax Day now July 15: Treasury, IRS extend filing deadline and federal tax payments

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced March 21 that the federal income tax filing due date is automatically extended from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020.

Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. This deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax.

Taxpayers do not need to file any additional forms or call the IRS to qualify for this automatic federal tax filing and payment relief. The IRS urges taxpayers who are due a refund to file as soon as possible.

For a list of frequently asked questions, go to the Filing and Payment Deadlines Questions and Answers page at IRS.gov.

For this and other COVID-19 related news, see the special section on IRS.gov focused on steps to help taxpayers, businesses and others affected by the pandemic.

3. Treasury, IRS and Labor announce plan to implement Coronavirus-related paid leave for workers and tax credits for small and midsize businesses

The U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Department of Labor recently announced in a March 20 news release that soon, small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing coronavirus-related leave to their employees.

This relief to employees and small and midsize businesses is provided under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020.

View the complete March 20 IRS news release.

4. High-deductible health plans can cover coronavirus costs

The IRS recently advised that high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) can pay for 2019 Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 related testing and treatment, without jeopardizing their status. This also means that an individual with an HDHP that covers these costs may continue to contribute to a health savings account (HSA).

See the recent IRS news release: IRS: High-deductible health plans can cover coronavirus costs for more information.

Thank you for subscribing to this IRS email service.

This message was distributed automatically from the mailing list e-News For Small Business. Please do not reply to this message.

Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com.

This service is provided to you at no charge by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).