Governor Newsom Suspends Tax Penalties

Governor Newson suspended until May 6, 2021 tax penalty provisions, including penalties, costs, or interest, for the failure to pay taxes on property on the secured or unsecured roll, or to pay a supplemental bill, before the date and time such taxes became delinquent.

Qualification for the suspended penalties requires that the property is either residential real property occupied by the taxpayer, or real property owned and operated by a taxpayer that qualifies as a small business under the Small Business Administration’s Regulations.

The taxes owed on the property in question cannot have been delinquent prior to March 4, 2020. A copy of the Executive Order may be found at https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/5.6.20-EO-N-61-20-text.pdf.

A taxpayer must timely files a claim for relief in a form and manner prescribed by the tax collector and must demonstrates to the satisfaction of the tax collector that the taxpayer has suffered economic hardship, or was otherwise unable to tender payment of taxes in a timely fashion, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or any local, state, or federal government response to COVID-19.

The taxes owed on a property by a taxpayer making payments pursuant to an installment plan will not be considered delinquent if, on or before March 4, 2020, all payments required by the plan were made. The suspended penalties do not apply to any property for which taxes are paid through an impound account.