Photo: Jimmy Emerson

Arkansas business owners have an extra 75 days to pay their annual franchise taxes.

Secretary of State John Thurston on Tuesday said late fees and interest charges on businesses’ annual franchise taxes will be waived until July 15.

The filing deadline is typically May 1, and companies filing after then are charged a $25 late fee plus 0.000274% interest for every day the payment is late. Those penalties will now be waived for those who file between May 2 and July 15. This only applies to the 2020 franchise tax reporting year.

“The May 1st deadline is set by state law, however, we thought this would be one way to help companies who may need a little extra time to get their tax payments in order,” said Thurston. “The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is having a serious impact on our business community and we want to help them in any way that we can.”

Arkansas franchise taxes can be filed online at www.ark.org/sos/franchise/index.php.