Proposed Regs for Disaster-Related Deadline Postponements
The IRS has released a pre-publication version of proposed regulations that would create an automatic 60-day postponement of deadlines for certain time-sensitive, tax-related acts in circumstances of federally-declared disasters.
The tax-related acts covered by this guidance are defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 7508A. This is the authority that historically has been cited for postponement of deadlines in cases of localized disaster declarations. Such localized relief is announced by the IRS in news release form, describing the area affected—generally on a county-by-county basis—and describing the length of the deadline postponements.
These individually designated postponements may have a duration of as much as 120 days. Some are less. The new proposed regulations would create an automatic 60-day postponement in cases of federally declared disasters, ensuring that there would be at least 60 days to complete the tax-related acts covered by the guidance. The proposed regulations also define what that term “federally-declared disaster” will mean for purposes of this 60-day period.
In addition to extending certain tax filing and tax payment deadlines, the postponements addressed in this guidance include completion of the many time-sensitive, tax-related acts described in IRS Revenue Procedure 2018-58 and Treasury Regulation 301.7508A-1(c)(1), which include filing Form 5500 for retirement plans, completing rollovers, making retirement plan loan payments, etc.
A period of 60 days for submitting comments on the guidance, or to request a public hearing, will begin upon publication in the Federal Register.
