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With government offices closed to protect workers and reduce the transmission of COVID-19, many federal, state and local deadlines are getting extended until a later date.
On March 30, King County Executive Dow Constantine passed an order to extend the deadline to pay first-half property taxes to June 1, 2020 in an effort to alleviate the financial burden of the pandemic. The executive order applies to individual residential and commercial taxpayers who pay property taxes themselves, rather than through their mortgage lender.
"Many homeowners are facing extraordinary financial challenges during this public health emergency," said Executive Constantine in a statement to the media. "My order provides short-term relief for individual taxpayers who own residential or commercial property, while allowing the state, county, cities and special purpose districts to continue meeting community needs as we all pull together to get through this unprecedented crisis."
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Thurston County is also extending the deadline for first-half property tax payments to June 1.
Other major national deadlines have also been shifted as a result of the pandemic. Some can breathe a sigh of relief and put off the long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles a little longer as the national deadline to enforce the Real ID Act, which required residents to either have an enhanced drivers license or identification card to fly domestically, has been postponed until October 1, 2021.
The Real ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 in the wake of 9/11 to establish enhanced security standards for receiving a state-issued license or identification card. It was meant to go into effect on October 1, 2020, and all states in the U.S. are required to comply with the new measures.
While the deadline to apply and receive enhanced identification has been postponed, residents can still use this time to renew their licenses and identification cards ahead of next year's change. However, they will have to do so online as all in-person services at the Washington Department of Licensing are by appointment only and prioritized by transactions that cannot be completed online.
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In addition to the property tax extension for King and Thurston counties, the national filing deadline for tax returns has been extended to July 15, 2020.
According to a news release on the IRS website, the extension "applies to all taxpayers including individuals, trusts and estates, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax."
Despite the extended deadline, people are being encouraged to file as soon as possible, and the IRS states that most refunds are still being issued within 21 days.
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"Even with the filing deadline extended, we urge taxpayers who are owed refunds to file as soon as possible and file electronically," said IRS commissioner Chuck Rettig in a statement about the change. "Filing electronically with direct deposit is the quickest way to get refunds. Although we are curtailing some operations during this period, the IRS is continuing with mission-critical operations to support the nation, and that includes accepting tax returns and sending refunds."
However, your filing status might impact how much you receive in your economic stimulus check. According to AARP, those who have not filed a tax return for 2019 will still be eligible for a check, but the total received will be based off of their 2018 return.
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