Few small business owners benefit from the May 17 tax deadline extension. Are you one of them?

Editor’s note:Regulations and guidance from the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Treasury Department is evolving. Please refer to the latest guidance from the IRS and Treasury to confirm how it applies to your particular situation.

The IRS and Treasury Department announced on March 17 a federal tax filing and payment deadline extension for individual filers.

Individuals have a new deadline to file and pay any balance due for their 2020 tax returns with no penalties or interest: May 17. However, the effect is more limited for small businesses.

The new deadline doesn’t necessarily mean business owners have extra time beyond April 15. The new deadline doesn’t necessarily mean business owners have extra time beyond April 15 to file as a business owner. To help you determine when you need to file and pay your business taxes, we’ve outlined some guidelines below depending on your business structure.

We’re continuing to monitor for any additional changes that may affect when small businesses need to file and pay federal taxes. We’ll update this article with developments that may be announced over the coming weeks. Refer to the IRS and the U.S. Treasury websites for the most current guidance.

Does my business qualify for a tax extension?

For now, the guidance released on March 17 has a limited impact on small business owners, based on the way your business is organized and how you pay yourself.

• Sole proprietors filing a Form 1040 with a Schedule C: You’re able to take advantage of the extended deadline. Your taxes are due on May 17.
• Partnership: Your taxes were due on March 15 unless you filed an extension.
• S corporations: Your taxes were due on March 15 unless you filed an extension.
• C corporations: Your tax deadline remains the same, April 15.

The IRS also offers automatic extensions for those businesses or individuals that need additional time to file.

Taxpayers should consider filing their taxes now to get their refund ASAP

While you might have more time to file, the sooner you do it, the sooner you will get your refund! And we know money in your pocket is more important now than ever. 

Changes to federal tax deadlines may not translate to changes to State tax deadlines. It’s important to check with the states you do business in for tax filing and payment requirements.

Find out more about changes to tax deadlines for individuals and states from Intuit TurboTax.