From Law360

March 17, 2021, 3:37 PM EDT

The IRS will push back the tax return filing deadline to May 17 from April 15 after being pressured for a delay because of the pandemic and the new $1.9 trillion relief law, two top House tax writers said Wednesday.

The one-month extension was announced by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J. They said the delay was needed to give the public and practitioners more time to file tax returns due to hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic and tax changes in the recently passed pandemic relief legislation.

The Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of the Treasury did not immediately confirm the delay.

"This extension is absolutely necessary to give Americans some needed flexibility in a time of unprecedented crisis," Neal and Pascrell said in a statement.

In January, IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said there were no plans to push the tax filing and payment deadlines beyond April 15 despite multiple requests by lawmakers and industry groups.

Representatives from Neal's and Pascrell's offices did not immediately respond to requests for comment.