Yesterday, California’s Franchise Tax Board, the state’s income tax agency, extended the deadlines for taxpayers to both file and pay 2019 California income taxes (and 2020 California estimated taxes) by 60 days. Here is the announcement in full:
Sacramento — The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) today announced special tax relief for California taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Affected taxpayers are granted an extension to file 2019 California tax returns and make certain payments until June 15, 2020, in line with Governor Newsom’s March 12 Executive Order.
“During this public health emergency, every Californian should be free to focus on their health and wellbeing,” said State Controller Betty T. Yee, who serves as chair of FTB. “Having extra time to file their taxes helps allows people to do this, as the experts work to control the spread of coronavirus.”
This relief includes moving the various tax filing and payment deadlines that occur on March 15, 2020, through June 15, 2020, to June 15, 2020. This includes:
· Partnerships and LLCs who are taxed as partnerships whose tax returns are due on March 15 now have a 90-day extension to file and pay by June 15.
· Individual filers whose tax returns are due on April 15 now have a 60-day extension to file and pay by June 15.
· Quarterly estimated tax payments due on April 15 now have a 60-day extension to pay by June 15.
The FTB’s June 15 extended due date may be pushed back even further if the Internal Revenue Service grants a longer relief period.
Taxpayers claiming the special COVID-19 relief should write the name of the state of emergency (for example, COVID-19) in black ink at the top of the tax return to alert FTB of the special extension period. If taxpayers are e-filing, they should follow the software instructions to enter disaster information.
The FTB will also waive interest and any late filing or late payment penalties that would otherwise apply.
I expect we will see a similar announcement from the IRS next week. It appears (at least for now) that the March 16th deadline for filing federal S-Corp and partnership returns will hold.
Kudos to the FTB for being proactive during this crisis.
Tags: 2020.Tax.Season