Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes: August-December 2020

And 2020 is still the year of COVID-19. In fact, the deadly coronavirus has been so persistent and there have been so many pandemic-related tax matters, that the original special Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes page was overwhelmed and overflowing.

So I renamed it Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes: March-July 2020 and created this page to finish out the year.

Then 2021 arrived and COVID-19 was still here. Actually, it picked up steam after people decided they were going to escape their self-isolation pods and visit family and friends over the December holidays. So now there's a third special coronavirus tax page named marking COVID/tax posts from for January 2021 until … who knows? Here's hoping we don't need any 2022 versions!

A couple of things stay the same on all three pages. First, the items are listed with the most recent post first.

Secondly, this page, like its COVID counterparts, starts off with COVID-19 posts from Don't Mess With Taxes because, well, it's my blog! Then the other sections with coronavirus links from official government websites, professional associations, law and accounting firms, and tax policy think tanks follow.

So enough with the housekeeping. Here's the second collection of coronavirus tax+ matters.

8 Q&As about the $600 COVID-19 payments that already are on their way (Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020)
Full 11 weeks of unemployment assistance will be paid even after COVID relief delay led to lapse (Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020)
Special COVID pandemic tax benefits for charitable help (Monday, Dec. 21, 2020)
IRS goal: Issue most 2019 tax refunds by Dec. 31, 2020 (Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020)
Tax reform is a global concern in wake of COVID-19's costs (Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020)
IRS and FBI warn about business cyber scams that target COVID teleworkers (Friday, Dec. 4, 2020)
COVID relief 2.0 could offer some donors a bigger charitable tax deduction (Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020)
Use Form 8915-E to report, repay COVID-related retirement account distributions (Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020)
IRS won't provide blanket tax relief for penalties assessed during COVID-19 (Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020)
Didn't get COVID-19 stimulus money? Nov. 21 is the last day to register for it (Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020)
Watch out for continuing COVID-19 tax (and more) scams (Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020)
IRS offers tax help to those facing COVID money troubles (Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020)
Deductibility of PPP loan expenses: Tax issues remain at federal and state levels (Friday, Nov. 6, 2020)
IRS is resuming issuance of tax balance-due notices (Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020)
In the wake of disasters & COVID-19, will the IRS be ready for the 2021 tax season? (Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020)
Nov. 10 is national COVID economic relief registration day (Friday, Oct. 23, 2020)
10 ways FSA/HSA funds can help you cope with COVID-19 (Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020)
COVID-19 relief payment deadlines are just days away (Monday, Sept. 28, 2020)
COVID EIPs await non-filers nationwide, especially in some NY ZIP Codes (Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020)
COVID tax credits highlighted by IRS during National Small Business Week (Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020)
No 1099-C for forgiven PPP loans, but this tax form still issued in other taxable canceled debt cases (Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020)
State revenue loss due to COVID-19 not as bad as feared (Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020)
1 million+ Californians top list of missed COVID payments (Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020)
Senators push for end of forced deferral of federal employee payroll tax (Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020)
IRS special letter going to non-filers with info on how to get COVID tax relief payments by year's end (Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020)
Federal workers are forced payroll tax deferral guinea pigs (Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020)
Treasury clears up Trump's payroll tax order. Just kidding! (Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020)
IRS approves e-signatures for 10 tax forms, temporarily (Friday, Aug. 28, 2020)
Tax injured spouses to get catch-up COVID-19 payments (Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020)
IRS waives some bad check charges (Monday, Aug. 24, 2020)
COVID-created tax refund interest payments going to nearly 14 million filers (Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020)
IRS stops sending nonpayment tax notices until it clears COVID snail mail backlog (Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020)
W&M chair to IRS: Stop sending COVID-delayed notices (Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020)
IRS knows some recently issued nonpayment notices are wrong. Now what? (Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020)
Get government benefits? Have kids? You get one more chance to claim added COVID cash (Friday, Aug. 14, 2020)
IRS now sending some erroneously denied COVID-19 dependent relief payments (Monday, Aug. 10, 2020)
Trump COVID executive actions sidestep stalled Congressional relief talks (Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020)
Home office tax deduction still available, just not for COVID-displaced employees working from home (Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020)
4 August tax moves to make during pandemic Dog Days (Monday, Aug. 3, 2020)

There also are some posts since the beginning of the pandemic that tangentially reference COVID-19's effects on taxes, but not enough so to make the official coronavirus cut for inclusion on this page.

If you're interested in seeing those, you can browse the new Coronavirus COVID-19 category. The posts above (as well as those on the other coronavirus pages) will show up, too, but just keep scrolling to find others that didn't make this coronavirus tax specific list.

Now to other off-blog resources.

First, there are the official government sites. The image above recommends Coronavirus.gov, which basically is a landing page (like this), so below are my suggestions.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS): Coronavirus Tax Relief and Economic Impact Payments

Treasury: How the Treasury Department is Taking Action

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Social Security Administration (SSA): Social Security & Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Coronavirus - What the FTC is Doing

Health and Human Services (HHS): COVID-19 Portal

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB): A guide to COVID-19 economic stimulus relief

Department of Education (Ed): COVID-19 ("Coronavirus") Information and Resources for Schools and School Personnel

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Frequently Asked Questions

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response (note the rumor control section)

U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS): Coronavirus/COVID-19 Related Scams

USA.gov: Government Response to Coronavirus, COVID-19

And, of course, there are other sites following the pandemic's tax effects.

Many of my fellow tax bloggers are doing great jobs tracking the intricacies of COVID-19 tax changes. So are the members of the great #TaxTwitter community.

But in order to keep this page from following the excessive pieces of coronavirus legislation when it comes to length, I've focused below on web pages posted by professional firms, associations and other taxcentric entities that are providing valuable coronavirus-related tax information and advice.

National Association of Tax Professionals (NATP): COVID-19 Tax News & FAQ

American Institute of CPAs (AICPA): Coronavirus (COVID-19) tax resources (n.b., the state tax roundup)

Thomson Reuters: COVID-19 resource center

Wolters Kluwer: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources for Tax & Accounting Professionals

KPMG: Coronavirus (COVID-19) tax developments

Deloitte: COVID-19 tax policy updates

EY US: Responding to COVID-19

Grant Thornton: COVID-19 Resource Center

RubinBrown: Coronavirus Preparedness Resource Center

EideBailly: The New Coronavirus (COVID-19) Organiational & Individual Impacts

Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP): COVID-19 Tax Policy Resources

The Tax Foundation: Tax Policy And The Coronavirus (note the state-by-state legislative and global country-by-country fiscal measures trackers)

Avalara: COVID-19 Tax Relief Roundup

Employee Benefit News (EBN): Coronavirus Impact

But wait, there are more: Naturally, things will change as the virus itself and our tax reactions to it evolve, so I'm asking for your help.

I know I've missed some good sites. Please let me know. I'll probably see your suggestions sooner if you let me know via Twitter where, in case you don't know, I'm @taxtweet. You also can drop me an email note.

I'll update this page as regularly as I can. You'd think that I'd have more time by essentially being on house arrest during Austin's coronavirus stay-home order, but it seems that the hours in the days also are affected by these bizarre circumstances (and my discovery of new things to stream).

Thanks for your assistance and patience. And, of course, be safe!

Taxes are important, but they are just taxes. The well-being of everyone and your families is everything, the only thing.

Original post began April 4, 2020

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Today's Tax Tip

April 15 is still due date for 1Q 2021 estimated tax payment — If you must pay estimated taxes on earnings that aren't subject to payroll withholding, the first deadline for the 2021 tax year is Thursday, April 15. Even though Tax Day this year has been pushed to May 17, other tax due dates — including the first quarter's 1040-ES — remain on the usual mid-April schedule. A bill to align estimated tax payments this year to the May change is still pending, but it looks like Congress won't act in time to change it. (April 12, 2021)
The 2021 Tax Tips offer ways to file your annual return, along with post-filing advice, important tax news and, of course, ways to cut your current tax year bill. You'll find the monthly assemblages on their own respective pages: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December. While we're waiting for the 2021 calendar pages to flip and fill up with timely tax tidbits, check out 2020 (and earlier) tax years' advice.

COVID-19 & Taxes

Coronavirus has wreaked havoc
on the 2020 tax season.
These three Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Taxes pages have details:
March-July 2020,
August-December 2020, and
January-… 2021

All About Kay

OK, some about Kay

Kay Bell — Native Texan (the blog title totally makes sense now, right?). Professional journalist. Tax geek.

My Other Accounts

Tick ... Tick ... Tick

Tax Season 2021 is here!
Happy New Tax Year! Are you ready to file your 2020 tax return? Me neither. With all the delays last year due to COVID-19, it seems like that prior tax season just finished. But time and taxes wait for no taxpayer … unless we're still dealing with a global pandemic. Yep, COVID-19 is still hanging on, so the Internal Revenue Service, which started 2021 by delivering more coronavirus economic relief payments, says it's once again giving taxpayers (and the agency itself) more time to deal with 2020 returns. Tax Day 2021 has been moved from April 15 to May 17. The monthly tips and reminders a little further down this column should help us focus on our now-delayed filing and other tax moves and hopefully make things go a bit more smoothly. Also keep an eye on the countdown clock just below. It will help us keep track of how much more time we now have until Tax Day on May 17, just in case some of us want to put things off until the final hours. .
Note: I'm in the Central Time Zone, so adjust accordingly for where you live.

Time for Tax Tasks

No April Fooling
around this year, please.
COVID-19 is hanging on and we definitely are not in the mood.

I know, some folks like the 4/1 jokes, especially since April usually is a serious tax month. But with the persistent pandemic, even with more of us getting vaccines, things still are truly life and death. The U.S. tax world, like the rest of the literal planet, continues to deal with the changes this virus has wrought.

When it comes to taxes, one of the major COVID-19 changes is, once again, a delay of Tax Day. It's not April 15 this year. The IRS moved it to May 17.
But other tax tasks remain, including an important April one, so let's get to this month's tax moves.

April 1: Another April change is a holdover from last year, when required minimum distributions (RMDs) were waived. No 2020 RMDs meant none were pushed back to this April 1.
But get ready, these mandated withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement accounts are back for 2021. Note, though, that the RMD trigger age now is 72 instead of 70½.

April 6: Looking for tax help? During a normal April, it would be way too deep into the filing season to find a tax preparer. That's likely still true, even with more than a month left in this filing season. But some tax preparers have finished up with early filers, so you might be able to find a tax pro willing to take on new clients.

If you're looking for free help and are older or don't make a ton of money, check into Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs in your area. These IRS-trained volunteers are working around COVID-19 limitations to help eligible taxpayers fill out and file returns, all at no- or low-cost.

And, of course, there's Free File, the online no-cost tax preparation and e-filing partnership between the IRS and Free File Alliance.

The official Free File site at IRS.gov this season offers nine participating tax software options if your adjusted gross income is $72,000 or less, regardless of filing status.

April 12: Coronavirus vaccines are rolling out, albeit slowly in some places (yes, looking at you Texas), and some pandemic precautions are being lifted. That means some restaurants are opening for a limited number of diners. Other eateries are continuing with curbside pickup meals and deliveries. Whether you're able to enjoy table service or still relying on food brought to your house, remember to tip your server or delivery person.

If a tip isn't included in your food delivery charge, click the image above to calculate how much to tip the person who brought it to you.

As for servers who are still on the job, remember that your tips are taxable income. If you at least $20 in job-related gratuities in March, you need to account for them today by using Form 4070 to report your tips today to your employer.

April 15: Your 2020 tax year return and any payment if you owe tax aren't due today, but 4/15 is still the deadline for the first quarter of 2021 estimated taxes.

April 20: You filed your 2020 return early, in part to get the tax refund you're due, as well as to get all your COVID economic impact payments, including the amount you claimed on your Form 1040 as the Recovery Rebate Tax Credit. So where's your money? You can use the IRS' online Where's My Refund? tracker for that amount or the agency's Get My Payment search tool to find out the status of that money.

April 25: The 93rd Academy Awards will be presented tonight. I'll be watching because I love movies and also because there's a tax connection. Many of this year's nominees, like always, were made using state tax credits, exemptions, rebates and/or grants.

April 30: In filling out your return, you realized you could get a tax break by making a 2020 tax year contribution to your traditional IRA. Good news. The May 17 deadline also applies to this retirement saving and tax cutting opportunity. The new May Tax Day also is the new deadline to put that prior-tax-year money into a Roth IRA, health savings account (HSA), Archer Medical Savings Accounts (Archer MSAs), and Coverdell education savings accounts (Coverdell ESAs). Start looking now at where to get the cash to put into any of these accounts that affect your tax situation (and savings!).

Small Business Tax Calendar: Important filing, deposit and record keeping dates throughout the year that your company needs to know. You can get more tax calendar information at the IRS' online calendar page and view the full year's important business and individual tax dates in IRS Pub. 509.

State Tax Help

Don't forget your state taxes!
Forty-three states and D.C. collect personal income taxes. But even if you live in of the seven states without an income levy, you still face other state (and local) taxes.

State Tax Departments provides links to your state's Web page. The companion page, Tax Tidbits, is the compilation of blurbs about each state's tax laws. And for more state tax news, check out all our state tax bloggings.

Tax Forms

Thanks to our increased use of tax preparers and computer software, many of us don't see our tax forms until we sign and file them. But knowing what's on these documents, either in paper or digital form, and why the IRS wants it is key to understanding our tax system. And knowledge definitely is power, especially when it comes to tax savings. Find this valuable information in the ol' blog's special Tax Forms Fiesta! page.

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Taxes are all about the numbers.
Check out these (mostly) weekly
By the Numbers figures.

Kudos Et Cetera

National Association
for Women in Communications
Winner, Best Personal Blog
2012, 2014 & 2017
Plutus Financial Bloggers Awards
Celebrating the Best
in Personal Finance
Winner, Best Tax Blog
2011 and 2013
Lifetime Achievement Nominee 2020

I gotta tell ya ...

AKA Disclaimer:
I am a professional journalist who has been covering tax issues since 1999.
I am not a professional tax preparer.
The content on Don't Mess With Taxes is my personal opinion based on my study and understanding of tax laws, policies and regulations. It is provided for your private, noncommercial, educational and informational purposes only. It is not a recommendation of any specific tax action(s) you should or should not take. Similarly, mentions of products or services are not endorsements. In other words, my ramblings on the ol' blog are free advice and you know what they say about getting what you pay for. That's why when it comes to filing your taxes, I urge you to get additional, professional, paid-for guidance from an accountant, Enrolled Agent or other qualified tax preparer who is familiar with your individual tax circumstances.

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April 2021

Tell it to the Hill

While it's easy to rail at the IRS, for the most part we can thank — or blame — our tax laws on Congress and the White House. So if you have an issue with tax legislation or want a tax bill passed, use the federal legislator locator above to find just who on Capitol Hill should hear your concerns. And for matters tax or otherwise closer to home, you can find info on your state and local elected officials at USA Gov.

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