The IRS and California’s Franchise Tax Board have issued updated disaster relief notices for the state of California relating to the severe winter storms, flooding, and landslides. California Taxpayers in specified counties, including San Diego, now have until October 16, 2023 to file various federal and California individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. Note: The original relief was until May 15, 2023.
The IRS and FTB are offering relief to any county designated as a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This means that individuals and households that reside or have a business in the following designated counties qualify for tax relief: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Inyo, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Ventura, Yolo and Yuba. The current list of eligible localities is available on the disaster relief web page on IRS.gov.
The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines falling in the period beginning on January 8, 2023 and ending October 16, 2023. As a result, affected individuals and businesses have until October 16, 2023, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
The relief includes 2022 individual income and trust tax returns originally due on April 18, 2023, various 2022 business returns normally due on March 15, 2023 and April 18, 2023, and returns of tax-exempt organizations, normally due on May 15, 2023. Payments due with such returns are also extended to October 16, 2023. Among other things, this means that eligible taxpayers will have until October 16, 2023 to make 2022 contributions to their IRAs and health savings accounts.
Payments for federal and California estimated income tax payments, including the fourth quarter 2022 payment originally due January 17, 2023, and 2023 payments normally due April 18, 2023, June 15, 2023, and September 15, 2023, are now due October 16, 2023.
The October 16, 2023, deadline also applies to the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on January 31, 2023, April 30, 2023, and July 31, 2023. Generally, employment or excise tax payments have not been extended.
The IRS disaster relief web page has details on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time. Note: Information type returns are generally not extended.
The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by these storms and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, visit disasterassistance.gov.
For our clients, while the extended deadline affords affected taxpayers considerable breathing room with respect to filings and payments, it remains important that you provide your tax information as soon as possible. We will continue to complete returns now so you can fulfill your annual filing requirements and request refunds. Further, we can provide information about payments so you can plan cash flow to pay by October 16, 2023 or earlier, if you desire.
If you or your business have moved outside of a county designated as a disaster area or have outside state filings, please let us know so we can properly extend or complete your returns to meet the original deadlines.
For more information on this and other tax matters, please contact your LLME tax advisor at (858) 455-1200 or by email.