Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Friday that he has extended the deadline to file individual state income tax returns to May 17.
"Pushing back the due date for state income tax is a simple way to help Arkansans in light of the extension of the federal tax deadline," Hutchinson said in a news release.
The Internal Revenue Service announced the extension of the federal deadline from April 15 to May 17 on Wednesday.
"This continues to be a tough time for many people, and the IRS wants to continue to do everything possible to help taxpayers navigate the unusual circumstances related to the pandemic, while also working on important tax administration responsibilities," Commissioner Chuck Rettig said in a news release announcing the federal extension.
Hutchinson on Friday also declared that "Arkansas is quickly rebounding" from the covid-19 pandemic, saying that the state's cases, hospitalizations and death rate all continue to decline.
"As the economy and our unemployment rate continue to improve, we will do all we can to help Arkansans to recover during the public health crisis," Hutchinson said in a news release.
The state tallied 228 new covid-19 cases on Friday, and hospitalizations hit a new low for 2021.
The increase in cases was smaller than the one a day earlier and more than 200 fewer than were added the previous Friday, March 12.
The number of patients hospitalized with covid-19 fell by 12, to 233, the lowest level since June 19.
It was the second consecutive daily decline in the number of hospitalized patients after three consecutive daily increases.
After falling for the previous two days, the number of virus patients who were on ventilators rose by three, to 50.
The number who were in intensive care units as of 2 p.m. fell by seven, to 100.
The death toll from the disease since March 2020 rose by 14, to 5,529. The anniversary of the first covid-19 deaths in Arkansas is this Wednesday.
The state's tally of active coronavirus cases fell by 71, to 2,663, remaining at levels not seen since early June.
More details in Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.