What Virginia filing and payment relief applied to taxpayers affected by the April 8 and April 16, 2011 severe storms?

Subject

Extension for Victims of Severe Storms

Plain-English summary

Virginia moved qualifying state filing and payment deadlines to June 1, 2011 for taxpayers affected by the April 8 and April 16 severe storms. Automatic relief covered taxpayers in the listed cities and counties when the records needed to file were located there or were otherwise unavailable because of tornado, flooding, or other storm damage. Later localities declared disaster areas would also qualify.

The June 1 deadline covered sales-and-use-tax, withholding, individual, fiduciary and corporate income-tax obligations, and other Department-administered state taxes that otherwise fell due from April 16 through May 2, 2011. It also applied to electronic-funds-transfer filers.

Taxpayers using the ordinary six-month income-tax filing extension still had to pay at least 90% of final liability by the original due date as extended to June 1 to avoid penalties. Qualifying taxpayers outside the listed areas could request relief and were instructed to mark paper returns “Severe Storm.” The Department would abate the related interest and late-filing or late-payment penalties.

Additional hardship extensions could be requested. The Department also offered to minimize certain collection actions during the disaster period, but suspending collection did not stop interest on existing delinquent accounts.

What this means for you

• This bulletin applies only to the specified 2011 storm relief.
• Eligibility turned on storm-caused inability to access the records needed to file.
• The extension covered both filing and payment for obligations in the stated date window.
• The ordinary six-month income-tax filing extension did not itself extend payment beyond the special June 1 date.
• Collection relief did not stop interest on older delinquent balances.

Citations and references

• Virginia Tax Bulletin 11-3.

Source

• Landing page: Virginia Laws, Rules & Decisions
• Ruling: P.D. 11-62

Original ruling text

TAX BULLETIN 11-3

Virginia Department of Taxation

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING

THOSE AFFECTED BY SEVERE STORMS ON

APRIL 8, 2011 and APRIL 16, 2011

EXTENSION FOR VICTIMS OF SEVERE STORMS

April 19, 2011

Tax Commissioner Craig M. Burns has announced that Virginia will provide a thirty day filing and payment extension to those individuals and businesses affected by the severe storms that caused tornadoes and flooding on April 8, 2011, in Pulaski County, and on April 16, 2011, elsewhere in Virginia.

This extension will apply to taxpayers located in the cities of Charlottesville and Waynesboro, and the following counties: Albemarle, Augusta, Bath, Carroll, Dinwiddie, Gloucester, Halifax, Isle of Wight, James City, Lunenburg, Middlesex, Pulaski, Page, Rockbridge, Shenandoah, Surry, and Warren.

If the Governor declares additional localities as disaster areas, they will also qualify for the relief granted by the Tax Commissioner. Please check our website for updates.

To qualify for this special filing extension, taxpayers must be unable to meet their filing obligations because the financial books and records they need to file their taxes are located in these cities and counties or are otherwise unavailable because of severe storm damage.

The application of the extensions is as follows:

Sales and Use Tax Returns: An extension is granted until June 1, 2011, to taxpayers in the affected areas for returns and payments that had a due date, or an extended due date, on or after April 16, 2011, and on or before May 2, 2011.

Withholding Tax Returns: An extension is granted until June 1, 2011, for taxpayers in the affected areas to file their monthly and quarterly returns and payments that had a due date, or an extended due date, on or after April 16, 2011, and on or before May 2, 2011.

Estimated Tax Payments and Income Tax Returns: Individual, fiduciary and corporate income tax returns and payments with a due date, or an extended due date, on or after April 16, 2011, and on or before May 2, 2011, are granted an extension until June 1, 2011, for filing and payment of the tax. Individuals and corporations whose original due date for the return falls within this period may elect to use the six month automatic extension for filing their Virginia income tax return as usual. However, the six month extension does not apply to payment of the tax. A taxpayer who elects to use the six month extension would need to pay at least 90% of their final tax liability by the original due date for filing the return (as extended to June 1 by this Tax Bulletin) in order to avoid any penalties.

Other State Taxes Administered by the Department of Taxation: An automatic extension until June 1, 2011, is granted for filing and paying any other state tax return with a due date on or after April 16, 2011, and on or before May 2, 2011.

The extensions also apply to filers who use electronic funds transfer (EFT) for payment. EFT filers in the affected areas should contact the Department of Taxation at (804) 367-8037 if they receive notices of penalty or interest.

Individuals and businesses in these areas will automatically be allowed an additional thirty days to file returns and make tax payments that had a due date, or an extended due date, on or after April 16, 2011, and on or before May 2, 2011. In addition, taxpayers outside of the areas that suffered severe storm damage may also request an extension. To receive the special filing extension, taxpayers should write "Severe Storm" at the top of their paper returns. The Virginia Department of Taxation will abate interest and any late-filing or late-payment penalties that would otherwise apply.

Additional extensions may be granted in hardship cases. Written requests for additional extensions should be emailed to [email protected] for personal tax inquiries and [email protected] for business tax inquiries, or directed to:

Virginia Department of Taxation

Customer Service Section

Severe Storm Relief Extension

P.O. Box 1115

Richmond, VA 23218-1115

The Department of Taxation will work with taxpayers in the affected areas to minimize the impact of any collection enforcement activities that may be initiated through between April 16, 2011, and May 2, 2011. Taxpayers notified of pending actions should contact the Department at (804) 367-8045 to discuss relief from actions that will create additional hardship in their recovery from the effects of the storm damages. The suspension of enforcement actions, however, will not stop the accrual of interest on delinquent accounts.

Customers are welcome to utilize Live Chat on The Department of Taxation's website at http://www.tax.virginia.gov to discuss account-specific question. If customers prefer asking questions by telephone, then individual income tax filers should contact the Department at (804) 367-8031; business taxpayers should call (804) 367-8037 for assistance. Information is also available through the agency's website at http://www.tax.virginia.gov/ .