WASHINGTON — The Trump administration says it will allow individuals and businesses to delay paying their tax bills for 90 days past the April 15 deadline in an effort to inject as much as $300 billion into the economy at a time when the country is in danger of being pushed into a recession by the coronavirus.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said individuals will be able to delay paying up to $1 million in payments while corporations will be able to defer payment on up to $10 million.
Taxpayers will still have to file their tax returns by the April 15 deadline. But they won’t have to pay their tax bill for 90 additional days. During that time, individuals and corporations will not be subject to interest or penalty payments.
“All you have to do is file your taxes,” Mnuchin said.
The IRS has yet to release guidelines for the program. According to the Associated Press, as of Feb. 21, the IRS had issued more than 37.4 million refunds averaging $3,125.
He also said that President Donald Trump wants checks sent to Americans within the next two weeks to help with the economic impact of the coronavirus.
“Americans need cash now, and the president wants to give cash now and I mean now in the next two weeks,” Mnuchin described.
He added that the impact of coronavirus on the airline industry has been worse than what they faced following 9/11.
