The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service recently issued guidance that provides relief to individuals and businesses affected by travel disruptions arising from the COVID-19 emergency.

The guidance includes the following:

  1. Revenue Procedure 2020-20  which provides that, under certain circumstances, up to 60 consecutive calendar days of U.S. presence that are presumed to arise from travel disruptions caused by the COVID-19 emergency will not be counted for purposes of determining U.S. tax residency and for purposes of determining whether an individual qualifies for tax treaty benefits for income from personal services performed in the United States;
  2. Revenue Procedure 2020-27 (PDF), which provides that qualification for exclusions from gross income under I.R.C. section 911 will not be impacted as a result of days spent away from a foreign country due to the COVID-19 emergency based on certain departure dates; and
  3. An FAQ, which provides that certain U.S. business activities conducted by a nonresident alien or foreign corporation will not be counted for up to 60 consecutive calendar days in determining whether the individual or entity is engaged in a U.S. trade or business or has a U.S. permanent establishment, but only if those activities would not have been conducted in the United States but for travel disruptions arising from the COVID-19 emergency.

The Treasury Department and the IRS are continuing to monitor these and other issues related to the COVID-19 emergency, and updated information about relief will continue to be posted on Coronavirus Tax Relief on IRS.gov.

Did you get your Economic Impact Payment yet due to COVID-19?

The IRS is sending Economic Impact Payments to eligible individuals. Many taxpayers may be wondering how to get their payment as soon as possible. Most of them don’t have to do anything, according to an IRS news release.

Most payments will be sent automatically

Taxpayers who have filed their 2019 tax return and requested direct deposit of their refund, the IRS will use this information to calculate and send their payment. Those who didn’t provide direct deposit information or owed tax can use the Get My Payment application to provide account information or payment will be mailed. For those who haven’t filed their 2019 return, the IRS will use their 2018 tax return to figure and send the payment.

Direct deposit is the fastest way to get an Economic Impact Payment

The IRS can speed up payments to people by direct deposit if the agency has the taxpayer’s banking information. If the IRS doesn’t have a taxpayer’s direct deposit details, don’t worry. Most individuals can use Get My Payment to provide their banking information to the IRS online, so they can receive payments immediately instead of by check in the mail.

Questions? The IRS is regularly updating the Economic Impact Payment and the Get My Payment tool frequently asked questions pages on IRS.gov as more information becomes available, according to the IRS news release.

Source: IRS