Tax Deadline Extended For Recent Storm And Disaster Victims

The IRS has extended the deadline for certain taxpayers in California, Alabama, and Georgia affected by disasters to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments until October 16, 2023. Taxpayers in the affected areas do not need to file any extension paperwork or contact the agency to get this relief. 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.

Key Highlights

• This extended deadline applies to the returns of individuals, businesses, and tax-exempt organizations located in disaster areas designated by FEMA.
• Taxpayers now have until October 16th to make 2022 contributions to their IRAs and health savings accounts.
• Farmers who forgo making estimated tax payments and normally file their returns by March 1 will now have until Oct. 16 to file their 2022 return and pay any tax due.
• This new deadline also applies to estimated tax payments for the fourth quarter of 2022, originally due on Jan. 17, 2023. This means these payments can be included with the 2022 return when it is filed on or before Oct. 16.
• The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. This means you do not need to contact the agency to get this relief.

California will conform to IRS postponement: A recent press release from Governor Newsom announced that California is extending the state tax filing and payment due dates to October 16, 2023 for Californians impacted by the winter storms in December and January. The California announcement details the counties included in this relief.  

This postponement includes the following types of returns:

• Tax returns and payments due on April 18, 2023.
• Quarterly estimated tax payments due on any of the following dates:
• January 17, 2023
• April 18, 2023
• June 15, 2023
• September 15, 2023
• Business entity tax returns normally due on March 15 and April 18.
• PTE Elective Tax payments due on June 15, 2023.

A recent IRS update has extended the October 16 postponement deadline to include the following counties:

• Imperial
• Kern
• Plumas
• Sierra

However, the postponement relief only applies to deadlines that fall on or after March 9, 2023. For now, the only California counties not included in the filing/payment postponement relief are Lassen, Modoc, and Shasta.