Amid COVID-19, the IRS extended the deadline three months
Last week, the IRS announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's federal tax filing deadline would be pushed back from April 15 to July 15.
The move gives Americans three extra months to file their 2019 federal taxes amid current business shutdowns, travel bans and more because of the pandemic.
With that said, experts and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have urged businesses and taxpayers who are expecting refunds to file now and to get their money, which may help any potential financial needs.
According to IRS data, the average refund thus far from filings has been almost $3,000.
To wait or not to wait
It's hard to predict what's going to happen amid COVID-19 with the government discussing several kinds of relief for businesses and Americans.
A simple way to look at this is: if you are getting a refund, file now and hold on to that money for bills and a possible emergency fund; but if you expect to pay, you may want to hold off.
Either way, it's always best to have a plan.
"If you are getting a refund, file as soon as possible," said James Beam, Regional Investment Director, TD Wealth. "For those that owe, make sure you have a plan to pay the taxes even if you take advantage of the extended time. At some point the government will collect and if you've allocated those funds elsewhere due to hardship, that could put you in a worse situation.