§ 44-26-2.1. Declaration - Due date - Payment - Interest. (a) Notwithstanding any general or specific statute to the contrary, every corporation having a taxable year ending December 31, 1990, or thereafter, until December 31, 2017, shall file a declaration and payment of its estimated tax for the taxable year ending December 31, 1990, or thereafter, until December 31, 2017, as applicable herein, if its estimated tax can reasonably be expected to exceed five hundred dollars ($500). Every corporation having a taxable year after December 31, 2017, shall file its declaration and estimated payment in accordance with subsection (n) herein and in conformity with federal statute and regulations notwithstanding any Rhode Island statute to the contrary. The declaration, sworn to by the officer of the corporation who is required to sign its return under any of the chapters and section mentioned in § 44-26-1 shall contain the pertinent information and be in the form that the tax administrator may prescribe. The entire amount of the estimated tax shall constitute the amount of the advance required to be paid.

(b)(1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the declaration of estimated tax required of corporations by subsection (a) of this section shall be filed as follows:

(2) The declaration of estimated tax required of corporations subject to § 27-3-38 relating to surplus line brokers premium tax or under any special act or acts in lieu of the provisions of that section or in amendment of or in addition to that section shall be filed as follows:

(c) An amendment of a declaration may be filed in any interval between installment dates prescribed for the taxable year, but only one amendment may be filed in each interval.

(d) The tax administrator may grant a reasonable extension of time, not to exceed thirty (30) days, for filing a declaration.

(e)(1) The amount of the advance based on the estimated tax declared under subsection (a) of this section by corporations described in subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall be paid as follows:

(i) If the declaration is filed on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of the third (3rd) month of the taxable year, the advance shall be paid in two (2) installments. The first installment in the amount of forty percent (40%) of the estimated tax shall be paid at the time of the filing of the declaration. The second and last installment in the amount of sixty percent (60%) of the estimated tax shall be paid on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of the sixth (6th) month of the taxable year.

(ii) If the declaration is filed after the fifteenth (15th) day of the third (3rd) month of the taxable year and is not required by subsection (b) of this section to be filed on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of the third (3rd) month of the taxable year, but is required to be filed on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of the sixth (6th) month, the advance shall be paid in full at the time of filing.

(2) The amount of the advance based in the estimated tax declared under subsection (a) of this section by corporations listed in subdivision (b)(2) of this section shall be paid as follows:

(i) If the declaration is filed on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the fourth (4th) month of the taxable year, the advance shall be paid in four (4) equal installments. The first installment shall be paid on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the fourth (4th) month of the taxable year, and the second (2nd), third (3rd), and fourth (4th) installments shall be paid on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the sixth (6th) month, the thirtieth (30th) day of the tenth (10th) month, and the thirty-first (31st) day of the twelfth (12th) month of the taxable year, respectively.

(ii) If the declaration is filed before the thirtieth (30th) day of the sixth (6th) month of the taxable year, the advance shall be paid in three (3) equal installments. The first installment shall be paid on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the sixth (6th) month of the taxable year and the second (2nd) and third (3rd) installments shall be paid on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the tenth (10th) month and the thirty-first (31st) day of the twelfth (12th) month of the taxable year respectively.

(iii) If the declaration is filed on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the tenth (10th) month of the taxable year, the advance shall be paid in two (2) equal installments. The first installment shall be paid on or before the thirtieth (30th) day of the tenth (10th) month of the taxable year and the second installment shall be paid on or before the thirty-first (31st) day of the twelfth (12th) month of the taxable year.

(iv) If the declaration is filed after the time prescribed in subdivision (b)(2) of this section, including cases in which an extension of time for filing the declaration has been granted, there shall be paid at the time of the filing all installments of the advance which would have been payable on or before that time if the declaration had been filed within the time prescribed in subdivision (b)(2) of this section.

(f) If the declaration is filed after the time prescribed in subsection (b) of this section including cases in which an extension of time for filing the declaration has been granted, paragraph (e)(1)(ii) of this section does not apply, and there shall be paid at the time of the filing all installments of the advance which would have been payable on or before that time if the declaration had been filed within the time prescribed in subsection (b).

(g) If any amendment of a declaration is filed, the installment payable on or before the fifteenth (15th) day of the sixth (6th) month, if any, or in the case of corporations licensed as surplus line brokers under § 27-3-38, the installments payable on or before the thirtieth (30th) days of the sixth (6th) or tenth (10th) month and thirty-first (31st) day of the twelfth (12th) month are ratably increased or decreased, as the case may be, to reflect the increase or decrease, as the case may be, in the estimated tax by reason of the amendment.

(h) At the election of the corporation, any installment of the advance may be paid prior to the date prescribed for payment.

(i) In the case of any underpayment of the advance by a corporation, except as provided in this section, there is added to the tax due under chapters 11 - 15 and 17 of this title, or § 27-3-38, for the taxable year an amount determined at the rate described in § 44-1-7 upon the amount of the underpayment for the period of the underpayment. For the purpose of this subsection, the "amount of the underpayment" is the excess of the amount of the installment or installments which would be required to be paid if the advance payments were equal to eighty percent (80%) of the tax shown on the return for the taxable year. For the purposes of this subsection, the "period of the underpayment" is the period from the date the installment was required to be paid to the date prescribed under any of the chapters previously mentioned in this section for the payment of the tax for the taxable year or, with respect to any portion of the underpayment, the date on which the portion is paid, whichever date is the earlier. A payment of the advance on the fifteenth (15th) day of the sixth (6th) month, or for § 27-3-38 on the thirtieth (30th) day of the sixth (6th) month, of the taxable year is considered a payment of any previous underpayment only to the extent that the payment exceeds the amount of the installment due on the fifteenth (15th) day of the sixth (6th) month, or for § 27-3-38 on the thirtieth (30th) day of the sixth (6th) month, of the taxable year.

(j) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the addition to the tax with respect to any underpayment of any installment is not imposed if the total amount of all payments of the advance made on or before the last date prescribed for payment of the installment equals or exceeds the amount that would have been required to be paid on or before that date if the amount of the advance was an amount equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the tax computed at the rates applicable to the taxable year but otherwise on the basis of the fact shown on the return of the corporation for and the law applicable to the preceding taxable year.

(k) This section is effective for estimated payments being made by corporations for taxable years ending on or after December 31, 1990.

(l) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, any taxpayer required to make an adjustment in accordance with § 44-11-11(f) in a tax year beginning in calendar year 2008 shall compute estimated payments for that tax year as follows:

(1) The installments must equal 100% of the tax due for the prior year plus any additional tax due for the current year adjustment under § 44-11-11(f); or

(2) That installments must equal 100% of the current year tax liability.

(m) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section any taxpayer required to file a combined report in accordance with § 44-11-4.1 in a tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2015, shall compute estimated payments for that tax year as follows:

(1) The installments must equal one hundred percent (100%) of the tax due for the prior year plus any additional tax due to the combined report provisions under § 44-1-4.1; or

(2) The installments must equal one hundred percent (100%) of the current year tax liability.

(n) Notwithstanding any Rhode Island statute to the contrary, every corporation having a taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, shall file its declaration and estimated payment in accordance with federal statute and regulations: with current federal filing requirements, the four (4) estimated tax installment payments of twenty-five percent (25%) each are due: on the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th months of the tax year. If any due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or Rhode Island legal holiday, the installment is due on the next regular business day.

History of Section. (P.L. 1990, ch. 27, § 2; P.L. 1992, ch. 15, art. 2, § 1; P.L. 1992, ch. 446, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 354, § 34; P.L. 2000, ch. 381, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 73, art. 7, § 3; P.L. 2014, ch. 145, art. 12, § 19; P.L. 2017, ch. 302, art. 8, § 16.)