California’s Franchise Tax Board postponed until July 15, 2020, the filing and tax payment deadlines for all individuals and business entities .
This special tax relief due to the COVID-19 pandemic for all California taxpayers was announced on March 18, 2020 covering
- 2019 tax returns
- 2019 tax return payments
- 2020 1st and 2nd quarter estimate payments
- 2020 LLC taxes and fees
- 2020 Non-wage withholding payments
To give taxpayers a deadline consistent with that of the IRS without the federal dollar limitations, the FTB is following the federal relief described in IRS Notice 2020-17.
Since California conforms to the underlying code sections that grant tax postponements for emergencies, the FTB is extending the relief to all California taxpayers.
What you need to do
Taxpayers do not need to claim any special treatment or call the FTB to qualify for this relief.
What you can do
While there’s no immediate deadline to file, now may be a good time to prepare your tax returns.
If you expect to get a refund, all the more reason to file now.
However, if you expect to owe taxes, the FTB offers the ability to make electronic payments online.
Pay online
The days of manually writing a check and mailing it to the taxing agency via certified mail make little sense, given that secure options exist for electronic payments. Manual checks can be lost in the mail, stolen, or incorrectly posted to the wrong tax period.
The FTB has an electronic one-line payment program called Web Pay. It can be used by both personal taxpayers as well as businesses (corporation, partnership, or LLC).
There’s more information on the FTB’s website .
More on money & COVID-19
When you can’t pay your bills during the pandemic
Protections for California home loans during the virus shutdown
Guest contributor San Jose attorney Steven L. Walker advises clients on tax controversies and litigation with the IRS, the FTB, and state & local taxing agencies. His clients bring him civil and criminal tax matters, including tax audits and appeals, litigation in U.S. Tax Court and federal district court, tax fraud, offshore/foreign tax compliance, and tax collection. He also advises clients on business matters. Steven is an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law in the LLM (Taxation) program, where he teaches Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties, and Bankruptcy Taxation. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and a former IRS attorney with additional experience at the FTB Legal Division. www.walk-law.com.
