Millions of taxpayers living in Los Angeles County can skip the April 15th tax deadline.
Almost everyone in Southern California must file by Tuesday, but LA County residents can wait to file their tax returns in the fall for a disaster declaration issued in the January wildfire that swept the Pacific Palisade and Altadena.
California taxpayers affected by these wildfires can file and pay federal and state taxes on October 15th without filing an extension.
The Internal Revenue Service and the California Franchise Tax Commission each provided guidance on tax easing for individuals and businesses in Los Angeles County, affected by wildfires and storms.
“In general, when you’re talking about delaying a disaster deadline, the extension applies to people with county record speeches,” said IRS spokesman Rafael Turino. “The deadline for October 15th will remain the same as the deadline for April 15th.”
Tulino said that if Tulino automatically provides the IRS to “save taxpayers relief and penalties to taxpayers to taxpayers with IRS record addresses in disaster areas,” Tulino said he is worried that taxpayers will pay penalties and interest on taxes.
These taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to obtain this relief, he said.
The most recent data available from Los Angeles County shows that in 2022, approximately 4.7 million returns were submitted to the IRS. The data reflects not the actual number of residents, but the number of people who may live in households submitting one proceeds, such as married couples and their children, Tulino explained.
Households living elsewhere in Southern California are not affected by the postponement and must meet Tuesday deadlines for state and federal tax returns. Otherwise, you can submit an extension.
These include Orange County taxpayers who last filed a return of 1.6 million in 2022. Riverside County had 1.1 million people, San Bernardino County had 986,000, and San Diego County had 1.6 million.
IRS Guidance
IRS keeps an An Official online list All disaster locations that indicate qualifications for file extensions, including La Wildfires. There is Nationwide and California A specific announcement, Turino said.
California announcement – What Tulino said covers everything taxpayers need.
For example, the IRS announcement makes it clear that even if these payments are made by a nonprofit or other non-governmental organization, eligible wildfire relief payments made to Los Angeles County taxpayers not covered by insurance or other refunds will be excluded from their income.
The IRS is permitted to postpone tax files and tax deadlines as they have been declared a disaster area by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the agency that helps Los Angeles County recover from disasters such as LA wildfires.
The October 15th deadline will usually apply to personal income tax returns and payments on April 15th, 2025. The relief also applies to estimating the estimated 2024 tax payments scheduled for January 15th and the expected 15th June, June 15th and September 15th.
California Tax Guidance
The state’s franchise tax board provided similar advice to taxpayers.
For those qualifying for Los Angeles County fire relief, a delay in files and payments means that interest and penalties will not be accrued until after October 15th, FTB spokesman Andrew Lepage said.
He introduced the taxpayer to A list of FAQs For residents and businesses affected by wildfires.
This list covers topics such as whether tax returns and trust or property payments in eligible disaster areas for the 2024 tax year will be suspended until October 15th, and tax returns and property payments.
The state provides subtle differences in IRS guidance.
For example, taxpayers do not need to provide support documents to prove that their primary residence or business is in Los Angeles County.
However, taxpayers must write the name of the disaster (Los Angeles fire) in blue or black ink at the top of the return to alert the FTB.
If taxpayers submit electronically, FTB says they will need to follow the software’s instructions to enter disaster information. Taxpayers are also assigned “Disaster Code” – In the case of the January fire in Los Angeles County, this is 157 – at the time of submission.
For more information, taxpayers should refer to FTB Fire Page In Los Angeles County, according to LePage.
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