Sen. Rand Paul says Uncle Sam should hold off on collecting taxes for a few months — and waive fees — as Americans attempt to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Kentucky Republican’s proposal elicited a wave of feedback Monday as the COVID-19 outbreak continued to disrupt and redefine daily life throughout the world.
“Today I’m calling on the IRS to move our tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15, and to waive any interest and fees for late payment,” Mr. Paul tweeted. “This will allow those who owe money not to have to send it during our current situation.”
A sampling of the reactions include:
- “This would be huge for my family of small business owners.”
- “Abolish the IRS next. That’d be real stimulus to average workers.”
- “Call for an immediate refund of all income tax paid in the last year.”
- “How about we add payroll tax holiday until December?”
- “This is an idea I can get behind! This would be a tremendous help to me and my family because we always owe.”
Mr. Paul’s suggestion comes after an $8.3 billion coronavirus package passed Congress last week and as officials on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue were working on relief packages measured in the hundreds of billions.
“Good teamwork between Republicans & Democrats as the House passes the big CoronaVirus Relief Bill,” President Trump tweeted Saturday. “People really pulled together. Nice to see!”
Today I’m calling on the IRS to move our tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15, and to waive any interest and fees for late payment. This will allow those who owe money not to have to send it during our current situation.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 16, 2020
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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