Florida Dept. of Revenue Authorizes Extended Deadlines for Corporate Income Tax Returns and Payments

On April 27, 2020, in an effort to provide flexibility regarding tax deadlines for businesses “adversely affected from the COVID-19 mitigation measures,”¹ Florida’s Department of Revenue Office of the Executive Director authorized, effective immediately, that:

1. For those entities which have a fiscal year ending December 31, 2019, the May 1, 2020 deadline for filing Florida corporate income/franchise tax returns is extended until August 3, 2020. Those same entities’ Florida corporate income/franchise tax payments, otherwise due May 1, 2020, are due by June 1, 2020.
2. A request for an extension of time to file the return and to submit a “tentative payment” is due no later than June 1, 2020.
3. If a filing extension request is filed on or before June 1, 2020, “the request may be granted until the extended due date of Monday, November 2, 2020.”
4. Payments should be based on the entity’s “best estimate of the tax that would be due with the return.”

2. For those entities which have a fiscal year ending January 31, 2020, the June 1, 2020 deadline for filing Florida corporate income/franchise tax returns is extended until August 3, 2020. However, the June 1, 2020 due date for tax payments remains unchanged. A request for an extension of time to file also remains unchanged—June 1, 2020.
3. If a filing extension request is filed on or before June 1, 2020, “the request may be granted until the extended due date of Tuesday, December 1, 2020.”
4. Payments should be based on the entity’s “best estimate of the tax that would be due with the return.”

3. For those entities which have a fiscal year ending February 29, 2020, the June 1, 2020 deadline for filing Florida corporate income/franchise tax returns is extended until August 3, 2020. Note that the July 1, 2020 due date for tax payments remains unchanged. A request for an extension of time to file also remains unchanged—July 1, 2020.
4. If a filing extension request is filed on or before July 1, 2020, “the request may be granted until the extended due date of Friday, January 1, 2021.”
5. Payments should be based on the entity’s “best estimate of the tax that would be due with the return.”