The IRS has issued a disaster relief notice for the state of California relating to the severe winter storms, flooding, and landslides that began on January 9, 2023.  California storm victims now have until May 15, 2023 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

Note:  To date, California has not announced any tax relief.

The IRS is offering relief to any area 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, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Florida, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Benito, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo and Yuba. Other areas added later to the disaster area will also qualify for the same relief. 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 May 15, 2023. As a result, affected individuals and businesses have until May 15, 2023 to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.

The relief includes 2022 individual income tax returns due on April 18, 2023, as well as various 2022 business returns normally due on March 15, 2023 and April 18, 2023. Among other things, this means that eligible taxpayers will have until May 15, 2023 to make 2022 contributions to their IRAs and health savings accounts.

Note:  Federal fourth quarter estimated income tax payments originally due January 17, 2023, are now due May 15, 2023.

The May 15, 2023 deadline also applies to the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on January 31, 2023 and April 30, 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 more information on this and other tax matters, please contact your LLME tax advisor at (858) 455-1200 or by email.