California Wildfire Victims Have Additional Time To File

Victims of the California wildfires that began on September 4 now have until January 15, 2021, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

The IRS is offering this relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualifying for individual assistance. Currently this includes Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Siskiyou counties in California, but taxpayers in localities added later to the disaster area will automatically receive the same filing and payment relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.

This relief is separate from that provided for the California wildfires that began on August 14.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on September 4, 2020. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until January 15, 2021, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. This means individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2019 return due to run out on October 15, 2020, will now have until January 15, 2021, to file. The IRS noted, however, that because tax payments related to these 2019 returns were due on July 15, 2020, those payments are not eligible for this relief.

The January 15, 2021 deadline also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments due on September 15, 2020, and the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on November 2, 2020. It also applies to tax-exempt organizations, operating on a calendar-year basis, that had a valid extension due to run out on Nov. 16, 2020. Businesses with extensions also have the additional time including, among others, calendar-year corporations whose 2019 extensions ran out on October 15, 2020.