If you run a business in La Crescenta, Glendale, or anywhere else in Los Angeles County and you have employees — or you sell taxable goods — Friday, July 31, 2026 is one of the busiest filing days of your year. Three separate quarterly returns, to three different agencies, all come due on the same date. Miss one and the penalty clock starts even if you paid the tax itself on time.
Here’s exactly what lands on July 31, and the one distinction — filing versus depositing — that trips up owners every quarter.
1. Federal payroll: Form 941 (Q2)
Every employer who withholds income tax, Social Security, and Medicare files Form 941, the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. The IRS due dates are the last day of the month after each quarter ends — April 30, July 31, Oct. 31, and Jan. 31. So the return covering April, May, and June is due July 31.
The catch: your deposits and your return are two different obligations. Payroll tax deposits happen on a monthly or semi-weekly schedule throughout the quarter — a monthly depositor, for example, deposits by the 15th of the following month. Depositing on time does not file the return. The one break: if you deposited every payroll tax when due for the quarter, the IRS gives you 10 extra calendar days — until roughly Aug. 10 — to file the 941 itself.
2. California payroll: DE 9 and DE 9C
California runs its own quarterly payroll cycle through the EDD. For the second quarter of 2026 (April, May, June), the DE 9 (Quarterly Contribution Return) and DE 9C (the wage detail) become delinquent if they aren’t filed by July 31, 2026. The quarterly payroll-tax deposit (DE 88) rides the same date.
One local trap worth knowing: if you withhold more than $350 in California Personal Income Tax, the state can require you to deposit more often than quarterly — on a semi-weekly or next-day schedule tied to your federal one. It’s the kind of detail that’s easy to miss when you’re running payroll for a Crescenta Valley small business yourself.
3. Sales tax: the CDTFA quarterly return
If you’re a quarterly sales-tax filer — most restaurants, markets, service stations, and retailers are — your CDTFA return for the second quarter (April 1 through June 30) is also due July 31. Quarterly-prepayment filers have already made their April and May–June prepayments; the July 31 return reconciles the full quarter. If your taxable sales get the categories wrong, that reconciliation is where it surfaces — our note on dine-in vs. to-go sales tax covers the rules the CDTFA checks most.
If you have employees and sell taxable goods, three returns — federal payroll, state payroll, and sales tax — all hit on the same Friday. They go to three different agencies through three different systems, so “I paid my taxes” isn’t the same as “I filed.” Block out time the week of July 27, not the afternoon of July 31.
Before July 31
- Reconcile Q2 payroll so your 941 and DE 9/DE 9C totals match what you actually deposited
- Confirm every Q2 federal payroll deposit was made — that’s what earns the 10-day filing grace on the 941
- File the DE 9 and DE 9C through e-Services for Business (paper is no longer accepted)
- Pull your April–June sales figures and file the CDTFA quarterly return; net out any prepayments you already made
- Calendar the rest: Q3 payroll returns are due Nov. 2, and the next estimated-tax payment lands Sept. 15
This article is general information, not tax advice for your specific situation. Rules change and details matter — talk to a CPA (we know one) before acting on anything here.