BATON ROUGE, La. — Statement by Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome: “This holiday season, it is critically important for the City-Parish to take every action within our purview to help our business community, while remaining vigilant in our fight against the coronavirus. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March, I signed four different executive orders to assist our small businesses.
Today, I signed an executive order to grant a 30 day extension for East Baton Rouge Parish businesses filing local sales taxes. The returns for November 2020 will be considered timely if filed on or before January 20, 2021. I signed the same order on March 17, 2020 for the sales tax deadlines in April and May.
Also, on March 30, 2020 I signed an executive order to exempt businesses from forfeiture of their 2020 liquor & beer license for unpaid local taxes, fees, penalties and interest.
Finally, on August 18, 2020 I signed an executive order instituting a Local Sales Tax Penalty Amnesty Program, effectively waiving all penalties on delinquent tax payments for all 2020 tax periods made from September 20, 2020 through January 31, 2021.
I understand the challenges small businesses face as they seek to retain employees and keep their doors open. I can assure you that keeping our economy open and maximizing opportunities for businesses are at the forefront of my mind during this pandemic.”
All four executive orders are attached above.