Several California counties impacted by wildfires were declared a major disaster by the Trump administration. The declaration authorized numerous sources of relief in the area including federal tax deadline relief.
The IRS has now issued IR-2020-191 and CA-2020-06 granting an extension of several upcoming tax deadlines to December 15, 2020.
The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) concurrently issued a news release confirming the state will automatically grant matching deadline relief.
The IRS relief provides that individuals and businesses with tax filing and payment deadlines between August 14, 2020, and December 15, 2020, have until December 15, 2020, to file their returns and pay any taxes due.
The list includes:
Any tax payments related to calendar 2019 individual and corporate returns were due on July 15, 2020. As a result, those payments aren’t eligible for relief.
Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due after August 14 and before August 31 will be abated as long as deposits are made by August 31, 2020.The IRS disaster relief page has details on other returns, payments, and tax-related actions that qualify for additional time.
The state of California news release confirmed the FTB automatically conforms to IRS postponement periods for presidentially declared disasters.
This automatic conformity includes all deadlines for:
All taxpayers who reside or have a business in covered areas are affected taxpayers.
The federal disaster declaration applies to the following counties:
More counties could be added at a later date; check the FEMA site for updates.
California has granted relief for all of the above counties and will grant automatic relief for any counties added to the federal disaster declaration at a later date.
The IRS will automatically identify taxpayers located in covered areas and apply filing and payment relief.
In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area, but has records located in the affected area that are necessary to meet a deadline during the postponement period.
Taxpayers who qualify for relief and live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at (866) 562-5227.
In addition to the deadline relief being provided by the state of California, some other states may conform automatically to an IRS deferral due to the major disaster declaration.
It’s important to check with each state to determine if a deferral is permitted.
If you or your organization has been affected by the California wildfires, and you have outstanding questions about the deferral deadlines, please contact your Moss Adams professional.