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Were you one of the millions of businesses that filed for an extension two weeks ago or back in March that still has not gotten around to starting work on your 2019 taxes? If you were, I would HIGHLY recommend that you contact your accountant or tax preparer sooner than later, because just like everything else in 2020, this is a very strange tax season for accountants.
Normally, accountants file a bunch of extensions in March and April, making those tax returns due in September and October, which means that normally there are six months to file the extended returns. Most accountants will work all the way through the end of April, slowing down some in May and June, taking some vacation time to recover from the brutality of tax season while the extended returns flow in to the practice and work is begun on them. This means that in a normal tax year, accountants have from April/May through September/October to prepare the tax returns for all of their clients that are under extension, both business and personal tax filers. So typically, there is a six month window for these returns to be prepared, which gives accountants time to work through the books of businesses that may have a lot of activity during the year or complicated books that require additional documentation for explanations and for backup to be used in future potential audits. This is especially critical for the Cannabis Industry that is more heavily scrutinized!
With the extension of the tax season from April 15th to July 15th, this has drastically shortened the window that is available to complete these extended returns. The tax extensions this year expire on the same days as they normally do, even with the original tax deadlines being pushed back. The chart below tells you how many days are left to get your business taxes prepared and filed on time for this year:
| Tax Return Type | Original Tax Deadline | Tax Deadline 2020 | Extended Return Due | Days Remaining to Process Extended Returns (From today 8/6/2020) |
| C-Corporation | 4/15/2020 | 7/15/2020 | 10/15/2020 | 69 |
| Partnership | 3/15/2020 | 3/15/2020 | 9/15/2020 | 39 |
| S-Corporation | 3/15/2020 | 3/15/2020 | 9/15/2020 | 39 |
What does all this mean to you? Quite simply, if you want to get your business taxes prepared and filed on time this year, you really need to be focusing on getting your accountant everything they need ASAP. If you do not already have a cannabis accountant set up to assist you and your business already, this is the time to start interviewing for one to assist you before firms start turning people away due to not having enough time to complete the work. Of course we would like to be the cannabis accountant that you choose, but to make sure that us or anyone is the right fit to work with you and your company, please remember to check out our blog “Questions to ask when hiring a Cannabis Accountant.”
Be sure to add a question about the current workflow of the firm and make sure that they can get your work completed in the time period remaining from when you hire them, so expectations are met on both sides. Another tip is to try and make sure to get whatever info is requested of you accumulated and sent to be processed by the accounting firm as quickly as possible, since cannabis taxes can be complicated and can take some time to compile and prepare. These are always best left in the hands of a professional that specializes on accounting for the cannabis industry, like MCA Accounting Solution / MyCannabisAccountant.com.
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