While the federal government and some states have extended return filing and tax payment deadlines amid the COVID-19 crisis, practitioners are warning that taxpayers should watch out for local property tax deadlines.
In a March 23 alert, John Fletcher and Walt Terry of Jones Walker LLP cautioned taxpayers about local property tax return filing deadlines in Mississippi that likely can’t be extended or waived under existing statute.
Noting that most businesses are operating remotely, “these deadlines may present significant compliance and logistical challenges,” they said.
The alert cautions taxpayers to be aware of an upcoming deadline for a tax exemption for free port warehouses. The statutory March 31 deadline should be treated as fixed and non-waivable, the alert advises, because previous opinions from the state attorney general "have concluded that failure to file these reports timely results in a nondiscretionary loss of the exemption for the year, although it does not appear any of the prior opinions were issued in the context of a comparable emergency.”
Fletcher and Terry also warned that applications for homestead exemptions are due to tax assessors on or before April 1, and while the statute contains an exception allowing the governor to extend the deadline in some emergencies, “it doesn’t appear broad enough to encompass the current crisis,” they said.
Matthew Boch of Dover Dixon Horne PLLC told Tax Notes March 25 that he expects there to be similar issues in Arkansas with property taxes, but the state's deadlines are later, "so it has not been a big concern yet."
Jaye Calhoun of Kean Miller LLP said she would like to see uniform relief offered by Louisiana parishes because “it would make it a lot easier for taxpayers to understand their compliance obligations.”
However, Calhoun said it is not clear whether the state can force parishes to uniformly offer filing and payment relief to vendors and taxpayers. Although Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) issued an emergency proclamation that purports to suspend legal deadlines (including those in Title 47, which contains the uniform local sales tax code), some parishes have offered relief while others have not. If the Legislature were in session, it likely could, but it is not in session, she explained.
Fred Nicely of the Council On State Taxation noted that states often don’t have the ability to waive or extend deadlines for local property and business license taxes.
Compliance with various local taxes has become more complicated because local assessors are not in their offices, Nicely said.
COST is tracking guidance on state and local taxes and is hoping that local jurisdictions will waive late penalties for businesses, Nicely said. “We’re hoping to see more and more states enact legislation that makes it clear that there are extensions,” he said, adding, “Having uniformity across entire states makes it a lot easier than contacting every local assessor.”
COST has reached out to associations such as the National League of Cities, the International Association of Assessing Officers, and the National Association of Counties to try to address the issue.
However, Paul Guequierre, spokesman for the National Association of Counties, told Tax Notes March 26 that the association is not planning to weigh in on the issue. "These are local decisions based on local circumstances," he said.