The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) applauded a bicameral letter, led by US Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) and US House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX), urging the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to extend the deadline for COVID-19-related taxpayer penalty relief from Sept. 30, 2022 to mid- to late-November 2022.
The letter, signed by eight members of the US Senate Finance Committee and 16 members of the US House Committee on Ways and Means stated, “Extending the relief deadline through mid-to-late November 2022, with whatever appropriate procedural guardrails are determined to be necessary, would provide needed time for more taxpayers to come into voluntary tax compliance without unduly burdening the IRS.”
In late August, the IRS announced it would offer automatic penalty relief to certain taxpayers for taxable years 2019 and 2020. AICPA promptly submitted a letter conveying gratitude but outlining concerns about the tight deadline of Sept. 30 provided in Notice 2022-36.
Eileen Sherr (CPA, CGMA), AICPA's Director for Tax Policy & Advocacy, lauded the IRS' recognition of the need for penalty relief for taxpayers at a time when taxpayers, tax practitioners and the IRS are trying to recover and catch up following three years of a pandemic.
“At a time when practitioners are working to meet the Sept. 30 deadline for trusts and the Oct. 15 deadline for individuals and corporations, it’s just not reasonable to impose another deadline on them," she says. "We thank Ranking Members Crapo and Brady, as well as their colleagues, for their quick action in support of extending the deadline.”
Since July 2020, AICPA has urged the IRS in multiple letters and statements to provide broad penalty relief to taxpayers who have experienced unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic.
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