Businesses get extra month to file new state tax

Texas businesses have an extra 30 days to file their returns for the state's new business tax, Comptroller Susan Combs announced today.

The Comptroller's office cited the complexity of the revised franchise tax and the newness of the enhanced electronic reporting methods for causing concern among tax practitioners and taxpayers statewide.

The extended deadline allows businesses to avoid a five percent penalty they would have faced had they not filed by May 15 ?? the original deadline.

?We want to make sure businesses and tax practitioners have adequate time to make sure they're complying with the revised franchise tax,? Combs said. ?Because they're dealing with new calculations and enhanced technology for filing reports, the one month penalty waiver will help taxpayers accurately complete their returns in the first year of this brand new tax.?

Because the new deadline falls on a Sunday ?? June 14 ?? the actual deadline is presumed to be Monday, June 15.  The Comptroller's office did not clarify that point nor did the agency indicate whether businesses taking advantage of the extension have to file any notice of their intent to do so.

TAB will update members once these questions are answered.

Information about the revised franchise tax is available on the Comptroller's website or by calling (800) 252-1381.