LDR Sales Tax Filing Relief, Ida Updates, e-File Yr-End Shutdown Reminder
September 17, 2021
LDR Sales and Use Tax Return Filing Deadline Extended for Businesses Impacted by Hurricane Ida
Due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Ida and the ongoing state of emergency, the Louisiana Department of Revenue (“LDR”) is granting automatic sales tax filing extensions to certain taxpayers in impacted areas.
For eligible taxpayers located in the parishes listed within the Revenue Information Bulletin (RIB), the August 2021 sales tax period is extended from September 20, 2021 to November 1, 2021, for return filing purposes. The tax payment due date remains September 20, 2021.
LDR will grant automatic penalty relief to taxpayers located in the eligible parishes for the August 2021 sales tax period under certain conditions.
To qualify for penalty relief, the taxpayer must file the August 2021 sales tax return and remit the sales tax and any deficiency interest by November 30, 2021. If a taxpayer is unable to remit the sales tax and any deficiency interest by this date, penalty relief will be granted if the taxpayer submits and enters into an Installment Payment Plan Request for sales taxes due by November 30, 2021.
Mississippi Hurricane Ida Filing Relief
The Mississippi Department of Revenue has announced that it will follow the federal extended due date of November 1, 2021, to file certain income tax returns for victims of Hurricane Ida.
IRS Hurricane Ida Latest Updates
The IRS has granted certain tax relief for victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
LDR Provides Disaster Recovery-Related Topics FAQs
The Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) has provided informational guidance and resources to assist taxpayers located in the designated parishes in their recovery efforts. The FAQs include but are not limited to information about penalty waiver process; natural disaster sales tax refund criteria; donations to recovery efforts taxability/deductibility; damages to residence and property - insurance, losses, mitigation and FEMA payments.
Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) – Disaster Unemployment Assistance
The Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) program provides assistance to individuals whose employment has been either lost or interrupted as a direct result of a major disaster, as declared by the President of the United States. 25 Louisiana parishes qualify for DUA assistance as a result of Hurricane Ida which occurred August 26, 2021 and continues. The deadline to file a DUA claim as a result of Hurricane Ida is October 4, 2021.
REMINDER: E-Filing Shutdown Starts Mid-November for Tax Year Change Over
The IRS Modernized e-File (MeF) shuts down once a year in order to prepare the system for the upcoming tax year filing season. MeF is used to process e-files for individual returns and all major entities returns as well as most state returns.
Paper filing of tax returns may be the only option available during the e-File shutdown. Check with your tax software provider for e-file availability.
The Individual (1040) shutdown generally begins soon after November 15 and goes through mid-February. The Business Returns shutdown generally begins in early December and goes through mid-January.
The IRS usually does not announce the exact shutdown timeframes until early November for individual returns and early December for business returns.
Questions about the content of this Alert should be directed to LCPA State Government Relations Director Linda Babin.