Va. extends income tax deadline to May 17

State follows IRS' lead in delaying filing, payment date

Published March 19, 2021 by Kate Andrews

Virginia will also extend its income tax filing and payment deadline to May 17, following the lead by the Internal Revenue Service, which announced a similar delay this week.

Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement Friday that the state tax deadline will move from May 1 to May 17, affecting only individual income taxes but not applying to estimated quarterly tax payments. The IRS said Wednesday it would push the federal income tax filing deadline to May 17, a month after its usual April 15 deadline, because it is dealing with a 24 million backlog of returns awaiting process since the 2019 tax year.

“Aligning Virginia’s filing and payment deadline with the federal government will provide additional flexibility and simplify the process for taxpayers,” Northam said in a statement. “Even with this extended deadline, we encourage Virginians to file as soon as possible so we can get people the refunds they are entitled to while also protecting the commonwealth’s strong fiscal footing.”

Last year, due to the pandemic and resulting financial downturn, both the IRS and the state tax department delayed payment deadlines.

The governor’s office said the General Assembly will consider the issue of interest accruing between the original and new deadlines during its April veto session. Taxpayers must make payments by May 17 to avoid penalties.

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