In context: Worth noting is that the IRS' latest move only applies to federal income tax. It'll be up to individual states to set their own deadlines. In California, for example, residents have until June 15 to file and pay state taxes.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on Friday via Twitter that per President Donald Trump's direction, the federal tax filing deadline will be moved from April 15 to July 15 to give taxpayers and businesses more time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.

Mnuchin in a separate tweet encouraged all taxpayers that have a refund coming to go ahead and file now in order to get their money back as soon as possible.

The IRS' official Twitter account confirmed the move shortly after Mnuchin's announcement.

The move comes just days after the IRS said it would delay tax payments for 90 days but still required that taxpayers file by April 15.

According to the IRS' filing statistics for the week ending March 13, more than 75 million returns have been received with nearly 60 million refunds having been issued. More than $177 billion has been paid out with the average refund amount being $2,957.

Masthead credit: Tax return form by Devrim PINAR