U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that his department may consider further extending the deadline for tax-filing, which had previously been moved from April 15 to July 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic, though there aren’t any such plans as of now, Bloomberg News reported.

KEY FACTS

“As of now, we’re not intending on doing that, but it is something we may consider,” Mnuchin told Bloomberg in an interview.

Mnuchin said that the extension made sense in March, “because we were absolutely worried about people who couldn’t get to their accountants, couldn’t get their information,” but added that a majority of Americans have already filed their 2019 taxes.

The Treasury secretary noted that people who can file their tax returns now should do so by July 15, especially if they are expecting a refund. 

On the possible extension, he stated, “We’ll look carefully as we approach this July date.”

Big Number

12.2%. That’s the drop in the number of tax returns that have been processed by the IRS as of June 12 compared to last year, according to publicly released data. The number of refunds issued by the IRS have also dropped by 11.8%.

Key Background

Last week, the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, wrote to Mnuchin urging him to extend tax-payment deadlines into next year, arguing that this would offer “much-needed breathing room” to the economy. Earlier this month, IRS employees began returning to their offices.