Income tax deadline extended

    The Georgia Department of Revenue (DOR) on Friday, in conformance with the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS), announced that the state of Georgia is automatically extending the 2020 individual income tax filing and payment deadline from April 15, 2021 to May 17, 2021, without penalties or interest.
    “Aligning with this decision makes filing and paying both state and federal taxes as easy as possible for Georgia taxpayers,” stated state revenue commissioner David Curry.
    Like the IRS, the relief provided by this extension is only for tax year 2020 individual state income tax payments and state individual income tax returns due on April 15, 2021.
    At the state level, Georgia’s income tax forms and integrated tax system rely on federal tax information to establish a taxpayer’s state liability.
    This, in practice, means that a taxpayer would need to complete their federal income tax filing before they would have the necessary information to begin their state income tax filing.
    Because of this, the state encounters significant challenges if the state deadline falls before the federal filing deadline.
    Individual taxpayers do not need to file forms or call DOR to qualify for this automatic tax filing and payment extension.
    Please note that state estimated income tax payments due on April 15, 2021, are not included in the extension. These estimated payments are still due on April 15.
    Additionally, no extension is provided for the filing, payment, or deposit of any other type of state tax (including employee withholding and sales tax) or for the filing of any state information returns.
    Although the individual income tax deadline has been extended 32 days, taxpayers are encouraged to file their returns any time before the May 17 deadline.
    As a reminder, DOR issues most refunds within 21 days.
    In accordance with state law, the revenue commissioner may extend tax deadlines since there has been a presidentially declared disaster.