House Speaker Advises Arizonans To Hold Off On Filing Taxes

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
Published: Friday, January 11, 2019 - 7:19am
Updated: Friday, January 11, 2019 - 8:20am

The Arizona Department of Revenue is preparing new individual tax forms with instructions that are based on the possibility that lawmakers will agree to changes demanded by Gov. Doug Ducey.

The governor wants Arizona’s tax laws to conform to changes made by Congress in the Internal Revenue Code. House Speaker J.D. Mesnard says he will fight the plan. He also says it would be a mistake for revenue officials to print forms for tax laws that have yet to be approved. 

"Without hesitation, I would advise all taxpayers to wait to file their taxes until we have resolution on tax conformity, regardless of whether [Department of Revenue] is putting out guidance," Mesnard said.

If lawmakers fail to make a decision by the April 15 filing deadline, that could present a different problem: Arizona law allows for an automatic six month extension to file a return.

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