2020-09-24
The IRS is processing a backlog of mail due to COVID-19, and paper checks mailed to the IRS mailed to the IRS with or without a tax return, may still be unopened.
Taxpayers in this situation should not cancel their checks and should make sure funds remain available so the IRS can process them to avoid potential penalties and interest.
The IRS credits payments using the postmarked date on mail, rather than the date they opened and processed them, so the payments will not be late if postmarked timely.
The IRS will provide relief to taxpayers for bad check penalties for dishonored checks the agency received between March 1 and July 15, 2020, due to delays in IRS mail processing.