BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana’s revenue department announced Monday it will start accepting and processing 2020 personal income tax returns on Feb. 12, the same date federal tax returns can begin being filed.
State individual income tax returns and payments for 2020 are due May 17.
The Department of Revenue is encouraging people to file their returns electronically through the state’s free web portal. Paper tax forms also are available online at www.revenue.louisiana.gov/Forms.
Filings may be trickier this year, because of tax implications from federal COVID-19 relief aid.
For example, the revenue department noted that federal unemployment assistance is subject to state income tax, as are one-time $250 hazard payments the state handed out to certain frontline workers who stayed on the job in the early days of the pandemic.
Taxpayers due refunds can expect them within 45 days of the filing date if they submit the information electronically, or within 14 weeks if they file paper returns, according to the revenue department.