New York 2nd Quarter Estimated Tax

June 11, 2020 Update: On June 11, 2020, New York State issued Notice N-20-8, which indicates that New York State will treat June 15, 2020 as the due date for the first installment for 2020 estimated taxes and will treat July 15, 2020 as the due date for the second installment for 2020 estimated taxes.  Unfortunately, this will result in penalties for the late payment of estimated taxes for taxpayers who do not make an estimated tax payment on or before June 15, 2020.

Original Post ….

As discussed in our post on March 31, 2020, New York State deferred the due date for installments of New York estimated income taxes for the first quarter of 2020 from April 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020.  However, New York State has not addressed the June 15, 2020 due date for the second quarter estimated tax payment.  (As discussed in our post on April 14, 2020, the IRS specifically deferred the due date for the first and second quarter estimated tax payments for individuals until July 15, 2020.)

A reasonable approach under the circumstances appears to be to combine the New York estimated tax payments for the first and second quarter into one payment, made for the first quarter on or before July 15, 2020.  Such a payment can use a single voucher or be made via a debit that is marked for the first quarter.  While it is possible that the State will still penalize taxpayers for not paying the second quarter estimated tax payment on or before June 15, 2020, paying the entire amount for both quarters as part of the first quarter payment appears to give taxpayers a justification for avoiding such a penalty.