IRS to reportedly delay tax filing deadline by a month

Taxpayers will reportedly have a bit more time to file their returns this year amid a "massive" backlog at the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS is planning to delay this year's tax filing deadline about a month from April 15 to the middle of May, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. While Bloomberg wrote that plans have not been finalized and the IRS is considering making the new deadline either May 15 or May 17, The Washington Post reported the new date will be May 15.

The reported decision comes after last year's tax filing deadline was delayed from April 15 to July 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of over 100 lawmakers recently called for this year's deadline to also be extended, writing that "taxpayers will need additional time to fully understand how" their tax liability might be affected by Congress' recent COVID-19 relief bill.

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Lawmakers also noted that the 2020 tax filing season began later than usual and that the IRS is "struggling to address taxpayer issues, with the agency reporting that it is answering only 1 out of 4 telephone calls." The Post also reports that the IRS is facing "a massive backlog that has left it unable to fully process" about 24 million tax filings, and delays have "kept some Americans from receiving their tax refunds for months."