Gov. Pritzker Announces Tax Filing Delay for Taxpayers in Tornado Impacted Counties

CHICAGO — Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Revenue announced that victims of severe storms, straight-line winds and tornadoes beginning December 10, 2021 now have until May 16, 2022, to file various individual and business tax returns and make income tax payments.

"As Illinois communities build back from December's severe storms, my administration is committed to supporting the recovery process every step of the way," said Governor JB Pritzker. "Residents who live or have a business in the impacted area won't have to worry about incurring penalties and interest on their state or federal tax deadlines until May, giving them additional time to gather essential paperwork and get their affairs in order on the road to rebuild."
Following a disaster proclamation issued by Governor Pritzker, tax filing relief is now available to taxpayers who live or have a business in Bond, Cass, Coles, Effingham, Fayette, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Menard, Montgomery, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike and Shelby counties.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing deadlines and relieves certain late payment penalties starting on December 10. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until May 16 to file returns and pay any income taxes that were originally due during this period. This includes 2021 individual income tax returns due on April 18, as well as various 2021 business returns normally due on March 15 and April 18.

Impacted taxpayers also have until the May 16 deadline to make quarterly estimated income tax payments due on January 18 and April 18 without incurring penalties. Among other things, this means that individual taxpayers can defer making the fourth quarter estimated tax payment, normally due January 18, 2022, and instead include it with the 2021 return they file, on or before May 16.

Furthermore, no penalties will be assessed on the quarterly withholding income tax returns normally due on January 31 and May 2, 2022 provided they are filed by the May 16 deadline, nor on late payments of withholding income tax due between December 10 and December 26, as long as the required payments were made by December 27, 2021.

If filing a return via postal mail, taxpayers should write "Tornado-December 2021" on the top of their returns in red.  If filing electronically, taxpayers must notify the department that their return will be delayed by emailing REV.DisasterRelief@Illinois.gov.  They should provide their full name, account number (if using a social security number, only include the last four digits), mailing address and an estimate of when they believe they can file or pay their taxes.