On September 27, 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the availability of federal disaster assistance to the State of Louisiana, to combat the emergency resulting from saltwater intrusion, which began on September 20, 2023, and has already impacted drinking water supplies in some areas.

Two days later, on September 29, 2023, the IRS published LA-2023-01, setting forth provisions being made for relieving some Louisiana taxpayers’ filing or payment due dates. The relief is currently available for those who reside or own a business in Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard parishes, and also for those whose tax providers and/or critical tax records are located in one of these parishes.

Many tax returns and/or tax payments due between September 20, 2023, and February 15, 2024, will see their due dates extended to February 15, 2024, without penalty. This will include:

• Quarterly estimated tax payments originally due January 16, 2024.
• Filing of individual income tax returns for 2022 which were extended to October 16, 2023. (Note: this is only an extension of the filing due date, as all payments of taxes due were required to be made by April 18, 2023.)
• Filing of corporate tax returns which operate on a calendar year and whose 2022 extensions expire on October 15, 2023.
• Filing of Form 5500 series returns, if the due date was between September 20, 2023, and February 15, 2024.

And on October 6, 2023, the Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) issued Revenue Bulletin No. 23-026, announcing that, in accordance with La. RR.D. 47:1514(C), automatic filing extensions were granted to taxpayers whose primary residences, principal places of business, critical tax records, or paid tax preparers are located in parishes within the federal disaster declaration as a result of seawater intrusion that began on September 20, 2023. The declared disaster area for Louisiana includes Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, and St. Bernard Parishes.

Qualifying taxpayers with a calendar or fiscal year filing or extended date after September 20, 2023, and before February 15, 2024 now have their filing due dates extended until February 15, 2024. As with the IRS’ relief, this includes both individual and corporate entities.

Again, for the LDR as well as the IRS, this is a filing extension, not an extension of time to pay taxes due.

If you have any questions as to whether and how the IRS and/or LDR tax relief could affect you, please click here to email me directly – let me know how I can help you!

Until next time –

Peace,

Eric