Senators call for IRS to extend tax filing deadline due to coronavirus

U.S. senators are calling for the Internal Revenue Service to extend the April 15 tax filing deadline due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) urged the IRS to move the deadline to July 15 and waive "any interest and fees" charged for a late payment.

"This will allow those who owe money not to have to send it during our current situation," Paul wrote on Monday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) also supports extending the filing deadline.

"Americans need to be focused on the coronavirus outbreak, not spending time worrying about filing their taxes," Feinstein wrote on Twitter. "We wrote to the IRS to express our concerns."

Feinstein and a group of senators including Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on Wednesday requesting the extension.

“While providing penalty relief is insufficient to address this crisis alone, it would at least lift one burden off the backs of taxpayers, who are trying to keep themselves and their loved ones safe,” the senators wrote. “If the Trump Administration can grant flexibility to multinational corporations armed with droves of accountants and tax attorneys, then surely it can provide similar relief to hard-working American families.”

The senators urged the IRS to act quickly. "The American people should not have to worry about filing IRS forms in the middle of a public health emergency," they wrote.

Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Paul Mitchell (R-Mich.) wrote a similar letter to the IRS commissioner on Friday.

"It is imperative that we take immediate action and work to provide certainty for individuals and small businesses at a time where we are facing a public health crisis and volatility in the market," the lawmakers wrote. "Now, more than ever, Americans need relief from filing and payment penalties. For those communities that are currently impacted by COVID-19, the focus should be on the health and safety of themselves, their families, and their community.”