The Internal Revenue Service won’t further delay the tax filing and payment deadline past July 15, despite requests to do so, the agency said Monday.

The IRS had previously extended the April 15 tax for three months to give taxpayers more time amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The IRS said taxpayers could request automatic extensions to file their paperwork by Oct. 15, a continuance available every year. But taxpayers who owe money to the government must pay by July 15 or face interest and penalties.

“The IRS understands that those affected by the coronavirus may not be able to pay their balances in full by July 15, but we have many payment options to help taxpayers,” IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a statement. “These easy-to-use payment options are available on IRS.gov, and most can be done automatically without reaching out to an IRS representative.”

Several groups, including the National Taxpayers Union and the National Treasury Employees Union, have asked the IRS to extend the due date. The announcement is a blow for some small businesses that were hoping for more time to find the cash to pay their IRS liabilities.

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Laura Davison in Washington at ldavison4@bloomberg.net

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Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net

John Harney

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