April 3, 2020 - On April 2, 2020, the Texas Comptroller announced that the due date for 2020 franchise tax reports and payments has been postponed from May 15, 2020 to July 15, 2020 for all taxpayers. The postponement is automatic and no extension forms are required to be filed.
Franchise taxpayers who need an extension beyond the July 15, 2020 due date have the following options:
- Non-EFT Taxpayers - Taxpayers who are not required to pay tax by electronic funds transfer (non-EFT Taxpayers) may file an extension request on or before July 15, 2020 and must make an extension payment by that date equal to the lesser of 90% of the tax due for the current year or 100% of the tax reported on their prior year report. Non-EFT taxpayers who request an extension on or before July 15, 2020 will have until January 15, 2021 to file their franchise tax report and pay the remainder of the tax due. The 100% of prior year tax option is not available to a taxpayer that either became subject to the franchise tax during 2019 (or did not have a report due during 2019) or was included in a combined group in 2019 but is filing a separate entity report in 2020.
- EFT Taxpayers - Taxpayers who are required to pay tax by electronic funds transfer (EFT Taxpayers) may file an extension request on or before July 15, 2020 to extend the due date to August 15, 2020. EFT taxpayers must make an extension payment by that date equal to the lesser of 90% of the tax due for the current year or 100% of the tax reported on their prior year report. EFT Taxpayers may request a second extension of time to file their report on or before August 15, 2020 and must pay the remainder of the amount of 2020 tax due. The August 15, 2020 extension extends the final report due date to January 15, 2021. Any payments made after August 15, 2020 will be subject to penalty and interest. The 100% of prior year tax option is not available to a taxpayer that either became subject to the franchise tax during 2019 (or did not have a report due during.
