Menu Close

States Offer Tax Relief During the COVID-19 Crisis

Leslie Paull
LA and TX are offering relief on some tax filings

The information below is current as of April 6, 2020. We will continue to update as more information becomes available.

Louisiana State Relief

  • Louisiana extended the due date for all income and franchise tax returns and tax payments to July 15, 2020. This includes returns and payments for the following:
    • Partnership
      • IT-565-2019 Partnership Return of Income
      • R-6922-2019 Composite Partnership Tax Return
    • Individual
      • IT-540-2019 LA Resident Income Tax Return
      • IT-540B-2019 LA Nonresident and Part-Year Resident Income Tax Return
      • R-1035-LA Consumer Use Tax Return
    • Fiduciary
      • IT-541-2019 Fiduciary Income Tax Return
    • Corporation
      • CIFT-620-2019 Corporation Income and 2020 Franchise Tax

If a taxpayer needs additional time to file a return, the taxpayer must file for an extension by July 15, 2020. For individual, fiduciary, and partnership returns, an extension filed by July 15 extends the date to file the return to November 15, 2020. For corporations, the due date would be December 15. There is no extension for payment beyond July 15, 2020.

  • 2020 estimated payments are due April 15 and June 15 for state taxes. Taxpayers can avoid penalties and interest for underpayment of 2020 estimated taxes provided the taxpayer has paid at least the following amounts:
    • Underpayment penalties and interest will not apply if the taxpayer pays at least 90% of the amount that the taxpayer paid on April 15, 2019 for the first quarter 2019 estimate.
    • Underpayment penalties and interest will not apply if the taxpayer pays at least 90% of the amount that the taxpayer paid on June 17, 2019 for the second quarter 2019 estimate.
  • Sales tax returns and payments as well as beer and wine excise taxes and payment originally due March 20, 2020 have been extended to May 20, 2020. The extension is automatic. Orleans Parish has likewise extended the due date by 60 days and has extended the renewal period for ABO licenses up to 30 days.
  • All requirements to electronically file or pay are temporarily suspended.
  • Any taxpayer who intends to elect to treat a pass through entity as a corporation for state income tax purposes as provided in Act 442 of the 2019 Legislature must still make such election on or before April 15, 2020; however, the Secretary may waive any penalty for late filing due to reasonable cause. She has not indicated that the coronavirus is reasonable cause yet.
  • Workers’ compensation returns due between April 1 and April 30 are still due but the taxes are extended to June 30, 2020.
  • All legal deadlines have been suspended until at least April 13, 2020. Any prescriptive period due to expire before that is extended to at least April 13.
  • The Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) is temporarily suspending collection actions.
  • Taxpayers may still visit the LDR in person but are encouraged to go online.

Texas State Relief

  • Texas restaurants are requesting relief from the requirement to pay sales taxes in their state.
  • Texas encourages taxpayers to use online resources rather than go in person to the Texas Comptroller’s Office.
  • 2020 Texas, Franchise tax returns are now due July 15, 2020. This extension is automatic and does not require a request for extension. If a taxpayer needs more time to file the return, a request for an extension can be filed on or before July 15, and if taxes are due, such payment must be made in an amount equal to at least 90% of the tax due.
  • For taxpayers who are Non-EFT taxpayers, the extension filed on July 15 extends the due date of the return to January 15, 2021.
  • For mandatory EFT taxpayers, on or before July 15, the taxpayer may request an extension to file to extend the due date to August 15. At such time, the taxpayer must pay at least 90% of the tax due or 100% of the tax paid for the prior year. A second extension can be requested on or before August 15, however, at the time of the second request, the taxpayer must pay the remainder of the taxes due.

Multi-state

Each state has different filing requirements and extensions. For a complete list, please visit the link below:

AICPA State Tax Filing Guidance

We recognize that state guidance is complex and can be somewhat overwhelming. We encourage you to reach out to your LaPorte tax professional to better understand how these changes affect your particular situation. Contact information for all LaPorte directors can be found here.