FTB clarifies tax software input for San Diego disaster victim taxpayers


As we previously reported, for San Diego County storm victims, the FTB is reinstating the pre-2023 disaster relief postponement procedures. Taxpayers who qualify for the June 17, 2024, disaster-related filing and payment postponement for San Diego County (due to the storms and flooding in January 2024) must indicate when they file their California tax return that they qualify for relief by either:

  • Following the instructions in their tax software to enter disaster information; or
  • For those paper filing, by writing “San Diego flood disaster” in blue or black ink at the top of their tax return.
    (FTB Tax News Flash (May 17, 2024))
However, many tax professionals, especially those using Lacerte software, have indicated that they were not able to locate where to input the disaster information.

We have received the following information from the FTB and Lacerte regarding how to input this information.

In the Lacerte individual entity product:

  • Go to Screen 4, Electronic Filing;
  • Go to the e-file PDF/Miscellaneous section;
  • Under the Miscellaneous subsection, enter the disaster relief explanation (e.g., San Diego County flood) in the Disaster relief explanation field.

Note: The entry above will be passed into the electronic California individual tax return when the state return is electronically filed.

In the Lacerte business, fiduciary, and exempt entity products, the user input is in a similar location as the above. However, the e-file capability for the Disaster relief explanation field for these entities will be added on an upcoming production release currently planned for Thursday, May 30th.


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