Billions in Covid-Era Tax Refunds Are at Stake as US Appeals

Six years after the Covid-19 pandemic began, questions over the postponement of tax filing and payment deadlines remain unresolved as the Trump administration appeals a lower court decision with potentially billions of dollars in refund claims on the line.

The government announced May 15 it would appeal an opinion from the US Court of Federal Claims that said federal law postponed tax filing and payment deadlines from early 2020 through July 10, 2023—the duration of a federal Covid-19 disaster declaration, plus an additional 60 days.

Judge Molly Silfen’s 2025 opinion in Kwong v. United States spurred a wave of legal ...