Wildfire Victims Eligible for Tax Breaks

LOS ANGELES -- Taxpayers adversely affected by the wildfires plaguing Southern California are eligible for breaks on filing for extensions and paying taxes or fines, the head of the state Board of Equalization announced Monday.

The breaks are available to affected residents of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to Judy Chu, chair of the BOE.

Los Angeles County homeowners whose properties were damaged by fire were urged to call the county assessor's office at 213-974-3211 to apply for a reduced assessment.

Those who lost tax records can get free replacements by calling the BOE Information Center at 800-400-7115.

One-month filing and payment extensions are available regarding a spectrum of taxes, ranging from property taxes to sales taxes and a long list of specialized taxes.

Those specialized taxes, fees and surcharges include:

• sales and use taxes
• alcoholic beverage taxes
• timber yield taxes
• energy resources surcharge
• emergency telephone user surcharge
• integrated waste management fee
• tire recycling fee
• underground storage tank maintenance fee
• childhood lead and occupational poisoning prevention fees
• fuel taxes
• cigarette and tobacco taxes
• interstate user tax
• natural gas surcharge
• covered electronic waste surcharge
• water rights fee
• hazardous waste fee
• oil spill prevention and response fees
• ballast water management fee

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