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Dear Commissioner Schmidt and Governor Cuomo,

For the last twelve months, taxpayers, practitioners, and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance have been dealing with unprecedented circumstances associated with the Covid-19 pandemic. Every tax filing season is fraught with uncertainty. Unfortunately, the circumstances associated with the 2021 filing season are outside of the control of taxpayers, practitioners, and even the Tax Department. There has been late legislative action, issues with mail, and many taxpayers still reeling from the effects of the pandemic.

As you are aware, due to these factors, the IRS just announced that they moved the federal individual tax filing and payment deadline to May 17. We, the leaders of NCCPAP, The National Conference of CPA Practitioners, are writing you today to strongly encourage you to conform to the changes already made, and any further changes to be made, to the filing and payment deadlines at the federal level.

Congress has passed legislation that makes the first $10,200 of 2020 unemployment compensation non-taxable to lower income taxpayers. We realize that is a federal only provision and does not apply to New York State. However, it will take time to develop the rules and forms under which a New York State taxpayer will have to add back that $10,200 of income. Software providers will need time to carefully program this provision. Thereafter, practitioners and taxpayers will need time to properly absorb and process this adjustment. Rushing to do all of this in the less than four weeks remaining until April 15th is impractical and likely to result in inaccurately filed New York State individual income tax returns.

Furthermore, the best estimates show that less than 15% of the population has been fully vaccinated. That percentage will not grow nearly great enough by April 15th to reach ‘herd immunity’. NCCPAP prides itself on our focus of serving individual and business taxpayers. Many taxpayers are either reluctant to leave their houses to see their tax preparer or uncomfortable preparing their own returns—even with over-the-counter options. Technology is not always the answer either. Tax paperwork can often be voluminous and impossible to transmit electronically without high powered equipment and high-speed internet access—equipment that many taxpayers do not have. That puts an undue burden on taxpayers, both individual and business.

In addition to this, practitioners have also been trying to fully understand the nuances and intricacies of all the new laws that came to pass during this pandemic. It seems that not a day goes by without new and improved guidance and resources being released.

Finally, even programs with the best of intentions can bring about bad actors. The expansion of unemployment has unfortunately caused rampant fraud. These bad actors steal their victim’s identity and claim unemployment benefits. Affected taxpayers may not be aware of this situation for many months while the state unemployment division tries to unearth the magnitude of this fraud. Taxpayers will have no ability to accurately file any type of tax return or extension until this rampant fraud is sorted out.

Based on the above issues, NCCPAP is requesting that the New York State Tax Department conform to any current and future federal rules granting an extension for tax returns and payments due on April 15, 2021 until May 17, 2021.

Very truly yours,

National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP)

The National Conference of CPA Practitioners (NCCPAP) is a professional organization comprised of Certified Public Accountants practicing in the United States. In addition to serving as a forum for education, networking, and community impact, NCCPAP also advocates for its clients. NCCPAP influences tax administration and tax policy by regularly meeting with Internal Revenue Service representatives, state taxing authorities, and elected officials. NCCPAP members represent over one million businesses and individual clients. The organization is headquartered in Woodbury, NY. For more information visit, www.NCCPAP.org.

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