Tax season officially ends on April 18. However, dozens of California counties are eligible for an extension until October 16, 2023 due to being declared a natural disaster area.
“The IRS and FTB may give individuals and businesses additional time to file or pay when the federal or state government declares a major disaster in your area. California generally follows the IRS’ extended deadlines for filing and paying taxes,” according to the FTB page, the California tax agency.
Areli Araujo, coordinator of the Vita Center at California State University explains that “due to the storms in California, the IRS has decided to postpone the tax filing date to October 16. It does not include all of California but does include many counties.”
Among the counties that qualify for an automatic tax filing extension through October 16 are: Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Orange , Placer, Riverside , Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo , among others.
For the full list of counties, you can see the IRS announcements from January 10, January 24, and March 17 listing areas eligible for automatic extension.
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Araujo added that “this extension not only includes tax delivery, but also payment, so there is no need to do anything else or request an extension. It’s automatically based on your last year’s address. , they automatically give you that extension, and you have until October 16 to make that payment.”
According to the FTB this extension includes:
- Individuals whose tax returns and payments are due April 18, 2023.
- Estimated quarterly tax payments due on January 17, 2023, March 15, 2023, April 18, 2023, June 15, 2023, and September 15, 2023.
- Business entities whose tax returns and payments are normally due on March 15 and April 18.
- Pipeline Entity (PTE) elective tax payments due March 15, 2023 and June 15, 2023.
However, Araujo advises starting taxes as soon as possible. “Don’t wait because sometimes you say ‘I’ll do them later’ and October 16 comes around and if you have to pay and you don’t have that money, it’s better to start now and find out if you have a refund or if you have a debt, the good thing is that you have until October 16 to make this payment.
If you need help filing your taxes, you can access free help through VITA Centers. These places offer expert assistance with people who have been accredited by the IRS to help.
In the San Fernando Valley, for example, California State University, Northridge has a VITA clinic that has helped thousands of people since the 1970s.
To find the nearest VITA center or clinic to you, you can visit the California Tax Board (FTB) website.
To see the full conversation with Areli Araujo, you can visit Telemundo 52’s Facebook or Youtube.