In light of the disaster declaration made last Friday, October 4, the Association contacted the Department of Revenue to inquire how this declaration might, if at all, impact filing deadlines and penalties. NCACPA received the following response from the Department:
We have reviewed the disaster declaration of October 4, 2019. As we understand the declaration, individual disaster assistance is still pending. Since as of today’s date, a presidentially declared disaster for individual assistance has not been issued, the provisions of G.S. 105-249.2(b) are not applicable.
However, the Department’s penalty waiver policy does provide a list of automatic reasons for waiver of a penalty under the general waiver criteria. See Section IV of the policy. One of the automatic reasons listed in the policy is natural disasters, including hurricanes. According to the policy, a taxpayer may request a waiver of a civil penalty if the taxpayer is able to show that the occurrence of a natural disaster prevented the taxpayer from complying with North Carolina tax law. The waiver period is dependent upon the type of natural disaster claimed. For disasters addressed in a memo from the Secretary or the Governor, the waiver period is set in the memo. For other disasters, the waiver period is for returns and payments due within three months from the date of the disaster.
In order to request the penalty waiver, affected taxpayers must file Form NC-5500 with the Department and mark the designated area for natural disasters.
The Association will continue to monitor disaster response and provide clarification for our membership as any new declarations or developments arise.