November 2, 2026: the Q3 payroll and sales tax deadline

If you have employees or a seller’s permit in La Crescenta, Glendale, Montrose, or anywhere else in Los Angeles County, the Q3 deadline this year is Monday, November 2, 2026. Three quarterly returns, three different agencies, one date.

On paper the date is Oct. 31. But Oct. 31, 2026 is a Saturday, and all three agencies push a weekend due date to the next business day — which lands everything on Nov. 2. That borrowed weekend is the only break you get, and one thing makes this quarter different from the others: your Q3 sales-tax return is the last one you will file at LA County’s old rate.

1. Federal payroll: Form 941 for Q3

Every employer who withholds income tax, Social Security, and Medicare files Form 941, the Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return. The IRS quarterly due dates are April 30, July 31, Oct. 31, and Jan. 31, and the agency is explicit about the weekend rule: if the due date falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, you may file on the next business day.

Two things owners mix up every quarter. First, depositing is not filing — your payroll deposits run on a monthly or semi-weekly schedule all quarter long, and making every one of them on time does nothing about the return itself. Second, there is a reward for having made them: if you timely deposited all taxes when due, the IRS gives you 10 additional calendar days to file the 941 — Tuesday, Nov. 10 this quarter. Miss a deposit and you lose the grace period along with it.

2. California payroll: DE 9 and DE 9C

California runs its own quarterly cycle through the EDD, and its calendar words things differently: the DE 9 (Quarterly Contribution Return) and DE 9C (the wage detail) for the third quarter of 2026 — July, August, and September — are listed as due Oct. 1 and delinquent if not filed by Nov. 2, 2026. The quarterly DE 88 payroll tax deposit rides the same date. There is no 10-day grace on the California side, so do not let the federal extension pull your whole quarter-end past Nov. 2.

Two nearby dates worth putting on the same calendar page: if you are a monthly depositor, the DE 88 for September is due Oct. 15 and the one for October is due Nov. 16. And if you withhold more than $350 in California Personal Income Tax, the state can require you to deposit more often than that — on a semi-weekly or next-day schedule tied to your federal one. It is an easy detail to lose track of when you are running payroll for a Crescenta Valley business yourself.

3. Sales tax: your last return at the old rate

If you file sales tax quarterly — most restaurants, markets, service stations, and retailers do — your CDTFA return for the period July 1 through Sept. 30 is also due Oct. 31, moved to Nov. 2 by the same weekend rule. File it even in a dead quarter: the CDTFA requires a return on or before the due date even if there are no sales to report.

Here is the wrinkle. Measure ER, approved by voters in the June 2, 2026 election, added a new 0.500 percent countywide tax operative Oct. 1, 2026 — taking Glendale from 10.500% to 11.000% and unincorporated LA County from 9.750% to 10.250%. Because the increase took effect the day after the quarter closed, every dollar on this return is still at the old rate. The first return that carries the new one is your Q4 return, filed in January. If your point-of-sale system was updated late, the gap between what you collected in October and what you owe will show up there — not here. Our note on the Measure ER rate increase covers how to check the rate for your actual street address.

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.