Lawmakers Call for Filing Deadline Extension

March 16, 2021

The Honorable Charles P. Rettig
Commissioner
Internal Revenue Service
1111 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20224

Mr. Mark J. Mazur
Acting Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy
Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20220

Dear Commissioner Rettig and Acting Assistant Secretary Mazur:

We write to urge you to extend the impending April 15th federal tax filing and payment deadline. We welcomed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) decision last year, after bipartisan calls from Congress, to provide an automatic filing and payment extension to July 15, 2020. Almost a year later, we are still grappling with the massive economic, logistical and health challenges wrought by this devastating pandemic. Millions of stressed-out taxpayers, businesses and preparers would appreciate an extension of the deadline to file their 2020 tax returns.

Over the past year, Congress enacted four historic emergency stimulus packages to deliver relief to Americans through Economic Impact Payments, the Paycheck Protection Program, and the Employee Retention Tax Credit. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, signed into law by President Biden on March 11, 2021, contained a provision excluding from income the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits received in 2020 for those with an adjusted gross income under $150,000. The IRS will need to take action to address the changes in the tax law, and taxpayers will need additional time to fully understand how this affects their tax liability. Further, taxpayers and tax return preparers are awaiting guidance from the IRS regarding these recent tax changes and are still waiting for some IRS forms to be made available for electronic filing.¹ Compounding these complicating factors, the IRS did not begin the 2020 filing season until February 12, 2021, nearly three weeks later than usual, creating a lot less time for constituents and businesses to file taxes overall.

With limited in-person tax assistance at local tax preparation clinics, libraries, and community centers, tens of millions of our constituents are facing the same logistical hurdles as last year. Additionally, the IRS is struggling to address taxpayer issues, with the agency reporting that it is answering only 1 out of 4 telephone calls. As our leaders on the House Ways and Means Committee have pointed out, compared with the same time last year, 27% fewer tax returns have been filed already and 31% fewer returns have been processed by the IRS.²

For these reasons, we respectfully urge you to extend the federal tax filing and payment deadline as Americans, and the IRS, continue to grapple with the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for your thoughtful attention to this urgent matter.

Very truly yours,

Jamie Raskin
Member of Congress

Bill Pascrell, Jr.
Member of Congress

Sent on behalf of the following signatories:

David Trone
Ed Perlmutter
Donald J. Bacon
Joseph D. Morelle
Conor Lamb
Jimmy Panetta
Danny K. Davis
Dina Titus
Alma S. Adams, Ph.D.
Cindy Axne
Chellie Pingree
John B. Larson
Brian Fitzpatrick
Alan Lowenthal
Paul D. Tonko
Stephen Lynch
Jan Schakowsky
Thomas R. Suozzi
Susan Wild
Bonnie Watson Coleman
Raúl M. Grijalva
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Nikema Williams
Steven Horsford
Debbie Dingell
Michael F.Q. San Nicolas
Terri A. Sewell
Madeleine Dean
Elaine G. Luria
Ann Kirkpatrick
Alcee L. Hastings
Ted W. Lieu
Frank Pallone, Jr.
Marilyn Strickland
Angie Craig
Scott Peters
Suzanne Bonamici
Earl Blumenauer
Jerry McNerney
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Andy Levin
Donald M. Payne, Jr.
Ed Case
Darren Soto
Mike Thompson
Al Lawson
Mark DeSaulnier
Brendan F. Boyle
Adam Smith
Bill Posey
Josh Gottheimer
Chris Pappas
Jesús G. “Chuy” García
Tom O'Halleran
Gerald E. Connolly
Kurt Schrader
Jason Crow
Brenda L. Lawrence
Adriano Espaillat
Karen Bass
Ro Khanna
Ruben Gallego
Julia Brownley
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
Deborah Ross
Daniel T. Kildee
Nydia M. Velázquez
Seth Moulton
John P. Sarbanes
Don Beyer
Jamaal Bowman Ed.D.
Tom Malinowski
Steve Cohen
Peter A. DeFazio
Grace Meng
Peter Welch
Anna G. Eshoo
Brian Higgins
Kathy Manning
Jahana Hayes
Doris Matsui
Norma J. Torres
James McGovern
Albio Sires
Dwight Evans
Judy Chu
Joe Courtney
Susie Lee
Tony Cárdenas
Barbara Lee
David N. Cicilline
Abigail D. Spanberger
Kweisi Mfume
Rashida Tlaib
Jimmy Gomez
Ilhan Omar
Joe Neguse
Lucille Roybal-Allard
Mikie Sherill
Betty McCollum
Jim Cooper
John Katko