Pennsylvania Extends Personal Income Tax Return Filing Deadline; Other State and Local Deadline Updates

Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax

On Saturday, March 21, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue announced that it is extending the personal income tax filing deadline to July 15, 2020. Penalties and interest on 2019 personal income tax payments will also be waived through the new July 15 deadline. This extension applies to final 2019 tax returns and payments, as well as estimated payments for the first and second quarters of 2020. Read more details here.

Additionally, for the sales tax filing requirement due in April, Pennsylvania is only requiring taxpayers to remit the sales tax collected for March of 2020 and waiving the accelerated sales tax payment requirement due in April of 2020.

Pennsylvania Administrative Matters

Because the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue has closed its offices due to COVID-19, Pennsylvania will be granting additional time in certain cases for taxpayers who wish to appeal a tax assessment issued by the Department of Revenue or to file a petition for refund with the Board of Appeals. Pennsylvania will consider a petition to be timely filed if it is filed by the later of the following dates:

• 30 days after the reopening of the Board of Appeals Office; or
• The original appeal deadline.

Pennsylvania will also accept any submission of requested documentation in support of an appeal as long as it is received within 30 days after the Board of Appeals offices reopen.

New Jersey

New Jersey’s decision about a tax filing extension is still pending. Legislation has been introduced that would follow the federal extension, but has not yet been passed. Delaware is also still pending.

Philadelphia BIRT and Other Taxes

The Philadelphia Department of Revenue announced today that the filing and payment of certain taxes have been extended.

The taxes that are extended as of today are:

• Philadelphia BIRT returns have been automatically extended to July 15, 2020, including estimated payments;
• Philadelphia NPT returns have been automatically extended to July 15, 2020, including estimated payments;

Payment of the Philadelphia Real Estate Tax has been extended to April 30, 2020.

The City is encouraging anyone who can file on time and make payments of the above referenced taxes on the original due date to do so to minimize the disruption to City services. The City announcement does not address the filing or payment of the Use and Occupancy Tax or the School Income tax. Assume that the due date for filing and payment of these taxes has not changed.

Conclusion

The full state tax filing deadline picture is more complex than the Federal, which was extended to July 15, 2020 last week. Each state is in a different place in its own decision-making process. You can view a summary of each state’s tax activity related to COVID-19 here. This data was compiled as of March 23, 2020.

Even though many states are contemplating tax filing deadline extensions, there are a number that as of now have remained silent. Arguably, without legislation to extend either the tax return and/or estimated payment dates, the state due dates for estimated payments and/or returns are still April 15. For this reason, we continue to suggest doing as much work as possible before April 15, in the event that some states do not extend their deadline. We will continue to keep you updated as this picture evolves, but for now, we encourage you to contact your Kreischer Miller tax professional or any member of our State and Local Tax team to discuss your individual circumstances.