San Diego County taxpayers are getting a reprieve for filing out their taxes. The Internal Revenue Service has extended this year’s tax deadline for individuals and businesses in San Diego County to Oct. 16.
IRS spokesman Raphael Tulino said the extension is being given to areas that were affected by the January flooding as designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“Generally speaking, when there are disasters declared by FEMA, IRS takes its cue from that to provide tax relief in and around the disaster area and those affected by it,” Tulino said. “That could be flooding, storms — anything you can think of all around our country.”
The last time this happened was during the wildfires back in 2019.
“For a lot of folks impacted or affected by the flooding or any disaster, filing a tax return ... might be secondary to getting (life) back together."
The extension is available to individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations. The IRS automatically provides extension and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. But Tulino said taxpayers should file before that October deadline if they can.
“If you know your due a refund, for example, the way to get that refund is to file a tax return,” Tulino said. “If you’re ready to file and you have all your paperwork and you're looking for that refund, choose direct deposit with an e-file in the return — in other words, paperless — and refunds (should arrive) in three weeks or less for most of those.”
Tulino also recommends double checking your taxes to make sure there are no errors because that can delay processing.
