After the floods of mid-February, the Trump Administration’s disaster declarations led to the IRS pushing back the deadline to file federal income tax returns to November 3. Governor Beshear matched that move for state returns, though the law mandating interest on payments due remains in effect. Phillip Beaman, with the Louisville accounting firm Monroe Shine, said waiting to file state returns could carry a price.
“They want you to put ‘disaster relief’ across the top of the Kentucky return. You file it by the November due date, and they will waive the penalty. But by statute, the Kentucky Department of Revenue is not allowed to waive interest.”
Beaman said the Kentucky Society of Certified Public Accountants tried to persuade the General Assembly to change that law in the last session, but the effort fell through. He said in some ways, the new deadlines made accountants’ jobs easier.
“If we didn't get the returns done, we can hunt and tell you got till November and all is good. And if you owe a big amount of money, then in the federal side, the client obviously gets to save, can keep their money in the bank for another couple months and earn some interest.”
Beaman said in other ways, the extensions made tax preparers’ work more complicated, due to a lot of last-minute communications with clients.
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