WASHINGTON, March 11 -- The Trump administration is considering postponing the April 15 tax filing deadline for individual taxpayers and small businesses to help mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.
"We are looking at providing substantial relief to certain taxpayers and small businesses who will be able to get extensions on their taxes," Mnuchin said at a hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations.
"We think we can provide over $200 billion of liquidity into the economy by delaying certain tax payments," he said, adding the U.S. Treasury does not need Congress to approve the delay.
"This we can do on an administrative basis. We don't need Congress," Mnuchin said.
Treasury officials are still considering how far the filing deadline may be pushed back and who will be eligible for the extension, The Wall Street Journal said in a report citing a person familiar with the discussions.
Mnuchin also urged Congress to quickly pass legislation to provide substantial relief for workers and small businesses hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.
"We urge Congress to act quickly. The president very much wants to consider a stimulus bill, whether it's through a payroll tax or otherwise," he said, noting the first priority is funding that will go for small and medium-sized businesses that are directly impacted by the epidemic.
"There are a large number of workers that are going to be required to self quarantine or be at home to take care of family members who are self quarantined," he said.
Mnuchin's remarks came as U.S. equities plunged again on Wednesday with the Dow plummeting more than 1,000 points around midday, as fears of the spread of the coronavirus continued to grip Wall Street.
Last week, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the target range for the federal funds rate by 50 basis points to 1-1.25 percent, its first emergency rate cut since the 2008 financial crisis as COVID-19 posed "evolving risks" to economic activity.