California announced Thursday that it will follow the lead of the Internal Revenue Service and extend tax filing deadlines to Oct. 16 for almost all people and businesses in the state.
Those taxpayers will have until Oct. 16 to file their 2022 federal and state income tax returns and pay any taxes due without penalty. The new deadline also applies to other tax payments this year.
In January, the IRS postponed tax deadlines until May 15 for residents and businesses in most of California and parts of Georgia and Alabama that were declared federal disaster areas because of winter storms. The California Franchise Tax board went along with the May 15 postponement.
On Friday, the IRS went further and extended tax deadlines for these areas until Oct. 16. The state has now conformed to those deadlines.
The disaster declarations include 51 of California’s 58 counties (including all nine in the Bay Area) and cover storms in December and January, which caused flooding, landslides and mudslides.
“The state is aligning with the Biden Administration and extending the tax filing deadline in addition to the tax relief announced earlier this year,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press release.
The Oct. 16 extension applies to tax deadlines falling between Jan. 8 and Oct. 15. It includes:
Individuals whose tax returns and payments are due on April 18.
Quarterly estimated tax payments due on Jan. 17, April 18, June 15 and September 15.
Business entities whose tax returns are normally due on March 15 and April 18.
Elective tax payments for pass-through-entities due on June 15.
In an updated winter storm page on its website, the FTB says, “If your principal residence or place of business is in one of the counties that are part of the declared disaster area, you are an affected taxpayer and entitled to relief. No supporting documentation is required.”
Individuals and businesses who suffer an uninsured or unreimbursed loss in a federally declared disaster can take a deduction for it on their federal and state tax returns. They can claim the loss on either the return for the year the loss occurred or the return for the prior year, the IRS and FTB both say.
California taxpayers claiming a disaster-loss deduction should write the name of the disaster in blue or black ink at the top of their tax return to alert FTB. If filing electronically, they should follow the software instructions. If a taxpayer receives a late filing or payment penalty notice related to the postponement, they should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated, it said.
The California counties covered by the disaster declarations include:
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.
“If you are not in a covered disaster area but your tax records necessary to meet a filing or payment tax deadline are located with your tax practitioner in a covered disaster area, you still qualify for the disaster relief,” the FTB says.
Reach Kathleen Pender: kathpender84@gmail.com; Twitter: @KathPender
