Dear clients:
We are in the midst of an unprecedented time in our country and our communities with extraordinary measures being employed to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus. I hope you and your families are well and are taking the necessary precautions to protect yourselves and follow issued guidelines during this time. I wanted to take a moment to reach out to all of you with some general information as there have been a high number of inquiries over the last few days and as many of you are aware, we are currently experiencing rapid changes with respect to tax guidance, deadlines, and payments of taxes.
First, I want to express that Pugh CPAs is still working diligently and will continue completing returns in a timely manner. Our firm has strong and robust technology capabilities to enable our employees to work from home, and in keeping with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s Executive Order #17 we have strongly encouraged our employees to use our remote work capabilities to do our part to slow the spread of the virus. At this time, our doors are still open for you to drop off or pick up your tax materials and returns in our office reception area. However, with respect to honoring CDC and Tennessee state guidelines, we are currently seeking to avoid face-to-face meetings if at all possible and so we strongly encourage you to communicate questions and concerns to us via email and phone. If you have sent us your 2019 tax information already, we are working on your return and will continue to do so and reach out to you with any questions or additional needs in order to complete your return in a timely manner.
As many of you are aware, the Federal government has issued a notice stating that the tax deadline has been moved back to July 15th, as well as the deadline for making any tax payments that are due on April 15th. This includes all filings that would have a due date with the IRS of April 15th – including individuals, trusts, partnerships, and corporations. While I expect that the State of Tennessee will likely follow suit in allowing some form of payment deferral and/or filing deadline deferral, they have not taken action as of this time. Likewise, for those of you living in states other than Tennessee, please note that a number of states have not yet taken action to extend their deadlines to match the federal response, though they may still do so. Also, please note that for those of you who are required to make estimated tax payments throughout the year, the current Federal tax decisions have not deferred the requirement of a second quarter tax estimate that would come due on June 15th. We are actively monitoring federal and each state’s tax developments to ensure that you continue to meet all established/changed deadlines and to keep you informed of changes with respect to taxes and your business as these changes occur. To this end, I would strongly encourage you to sign up for our email newsletter on our webpage (www.pughcpas.com) if you haven’t already done so – we have sent out several updates over the last week and it is likely we will send out several more update articles over the coming weeks as additional decisions are made by Federal and State authorities. These news updates can also be reviewed on our website.
Our goal is to continue working to the best of our capabilities to complete returns in a timely manner, allowing you to have the information concerning your taxes that you need to make decisions in the present environment (whether that is to go ahead and file and claim a refund, or wait until an available extended deadline to pay, as well as whether estimated payments may be due sooner than the extended deadlines). If you have your 2019 tax information ready, I would ask that you please go ahead and submit your tax information for return preparation to us if you have not already done so, so that we can continue to work and provide you with relevant, timely information about your specific situation. Even if you usually extend your tax returns, we do request that you go ahead and provide the information you have available currently as you normally would do. Though a federal extension filing is not immediately necessary, your information may be needed in case state payments are required with an extension and also to schedule 2020 estimated payments, which may come due prior to the changed deadline. For your safety and the safety of our staff, we ask that if you would normally meet with us to provide your information, please provide your documents either by mailing your information in to our office, dropping it off in our office reception area, or you can also scan and email your information to us (if emailing, please be sure to use our secure email system, ShareFile, to upload documents. Your Pugh CPAs tax advisor can send you a secure link. If you have comments or questions with regard to some of the information you are providing, just include a note on the item of concern and we will contact you to discuss questions and comments by phone or email.
As always, please call or email your tax advisor at your convenience with questions and concerns. We will continue to work diligently and remain focused on serving your needs while we adapt to the ongoing changes in the current environment to keep our communities safer. As always, we thank you for your confidence in us and for the opportunity to serve as your trusted advisors.
Sincerely,
Pugh CPAs Tax Team
