The Department of Treasury (“Department”) and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) have confirmed that tax-exempt organizations have an extension until July 15, 2020 to file their Forms 990-series annual information returns, as well as various other returns. While certain aspects of this relief are automatic, tax-exempt hospitals and other tax-exempt organizations should consider their particular circumstances when evaluating how the new deadline will apply and may wish to confirm next steps with their tax advisors.
Prior Guidance
Over a series of prior Notices, the Department and IRS communicated that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, certain taxpayers would have until July 15, 2020 to file their tax returns and make associated tax payments that otherwise would have been due between April 15, 2020 and July 15, 2020. This article discusses that prior guidance. Of particular note for tax-exempt organizations, one of these Notices confirmed that this extension applied to unrelated business income tax and other payments and return filings on Form 990-T, as well as excise tax payments on investment income and return filings on Form 990-PF. The notices made no explicit reference to Forms 990 – although practitioners inferred that the deadlines for such returns implicitly had been extended through reference to certain previous IRS rulings.
Current Guidance
The Department and IRS now have officially confirmed that the July 15, 2020 extension also extends to the Form 990-series annual information returns or notices – specifically Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, 990-BL and 990-N (e-postcard). This same extension also is available for the following forms:
- Forms 8871 and 8872
- Form 5227
- Form 990-T
- Form 1120-POL
- Form 4720
- Form 8976
Under the guidance, organizations with a filing deadline between April 1, 2020 and July 15, 2020 for any of these forms now have an automatic extension until July 15, 2020.
Practical Takeaways
Tax-exempt organizations must evaluate their particular circumstances to determine how best to approach their future filing obligations.
Calendar year organizations typically must file their Form 990 (or equivalent) by May 15 and therefore now have an automatic filing extension until July 15, 2020. As a practical matter, though, many tax-exempt organizations annually file a Form 8868 to request a six-month filing extension (i.e., until November 15). Taking the wave of IRS guidance cumulatively, it appears that a Form 8868 will be timely if filed by July 15, 2020 and will allow a tax-exempt organization to file its Form 990 (or equivalent) by November 15, 2020. Given the minimal work necessary to file a Form 8868, tax-exempt organizations may wish to go ahead and make that filing now rather than wait until July to do so.
The path is somewhat clearer for June 30 year end organizations, whose Forms 990 (or equivalent) typically would be due November 15. If such an organization made its 2018-19 filing by the original due date deadline, then it would have no annual return due during the period from April 15 to July 15. If a six-month extension was requested, however, then the return that would have been due on May 15, 2020 is now due by July 15, 2020.
Specific deadlines for organizations with other tax years or for other tax forms will vary, and tax-exempt organizations would be prudent to consult with their tax advisors to ensure that they are prepared to make their future filings on a timely basis.
If you have any questions on the issues discussed in or related to this article, please contact:
- Jeff Carmichael at (317) 977-1443 or jcarmichael@wp.hallrender.com;
- Jim Willey at (317) 977-1409 or jwilley@wp.hallrender.com;
- Jeff Peek at (317) 977-1405 or jpeek@wp.hallrender.com;
- Calvin Chambers at (317) 977-1459 or cchambers@wp.hallrender.com; or
- Your regular Hall Render attorney.
Hall Render’s attorneys and professionals continue to maintain the most up-to-date information and resources at our COVID-19 Resource page, through our 24/7 COVID‑19 Telephone Hotline at (317) 429-3900 or by contacting your regular Hall Render attorney.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot—outside of an attorney-client relationship—answer specific questions that would be legal advice.
