Declared Natural Disasters and Emergencies Tax Help

For the 2017 franchise tax reports with valid extensions to Nov. 15, the Comptroller’s office is granting an automatic extension to Jan. 5, 2018, to businesses located in the federally declared disaster area in Texas. Businesses located in these counties do not need to request an extension for their franchise tax reports.

Service providers who file franchise tax reports on behalf of other taxpayers can request a franchise tax extension if the provider is affected by Hurricane Harvey and is located in the federally declared disaster area in Texas. See How to Request an Extension below.

The Comptroller’s office is granting businesses located in the federally declared disaster area in Texas that are not required to report (file) electronically an automatic 30-day extension to complete the following sales and use tax reports:

• August monthly reports due Sept. 20

• Quarterly reports due Oct. 20

Taxpayers are not required to report electronically if they paid less than $50,000 in sales and use tax in the preceding state fiscal year (Sept. 1 to Aug. 31). Taxpayers located in the federally declared disaster area in Texas who are not required but choose to report electronically will also receive the automatic extension.

Taxpayers required to electronically report sales and use tax and taxpayers reporting other tax types may request a 30-day extension of time to file if located in the federally declared disaster area in Texas. Taxpayers affected by Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Irma located in disaster areas outside of Texas may also request a 30-day extension of time to file.

An affected business must request the extension either by calling the Comptroller's Taxpayer Services line at 800-252-5555 or emailing ExtensionRequests@cpa.texas.gov and provide the following information:

• taxpayer name

• taxpayer number

• name of person making request

• email or phone contact information of person making request

• tax type(s) for which extension is requested

• affected filing period

Extension requests due to disasters are handled on a case-by-case basis. The taxpayer will be notified when an extension request is granted or denied.