A coalition of more than 20 conservative and free-market groups wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday asking that he defer the July 15 tax deadline into next year, saying that the payments due next month “are a fiscal cliff endangering our economic recovery.”
The 22 groups include Americans for Tax Reform, FreedomWorks, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation and Tea Party Nation. They say that the tax payments due next month could total $1 trillion or more.
“This would represent an enormous financial burden at a time when many individuals and businesses are struggling to make ends meet due to the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and the recent civil unrest,” the groups say. “The case is clear that delaying payment deadlines – including estimated taxes and excise taxes – must be an immediate priority.”
Why it matters: At Politico’s Morning Tax, Bernie Becker summed it up smartly. “Let’s not act like conservative groups angling to let people keep their tax dollars is wildly out of character,” he wrote. “But it is a presidential election year, and President Donald Trump has promised the economy will come roaring back before November — so it’s probably fair to wonder how much of a political debate this will become in the coming weeks.”
Becker notes that the National Treasury Employees Union has also called for the July 15 deadline to be pushed back for the safety of IRS employees. But the American Institute of CPAs, for now at least, says the deadline should stay, in part because the group doesn’t expect states to offer another delay.
