The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced additional tax relief for victims of Hurricane Matthew. Storm victims in much of North Carolina and parts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida have until March 15, 2017, to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments. This includes an additional filing extension for those with valid extensions that run out at midnight tonight, October 17, 2016.
The IRS is now offering this expanded relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as qualifying for either individual assistance or public assistance. Taxpayers added later to the disaster area will automatically receive the same filing and payment relief.
Currently, the following areas are eligible for relief:
North Carolina: Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Robeson, Sampson, Tyrrell, Washington, Wayne and Wilson counties.
South Carolina: Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Darlington, Dillon, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion, Orangeburg, and Williamsburg counties.
Georgia: Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh counties.
Florida: Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Indian River, Nassau, St. Johns, St. Lucie, and Volusia counties.
Here’s what the relief entails: tax filing and payment deadlines which began starting on Monday, October 4, 2016, will be pushed off until March 15, 2017. That means that tax returns and tax payments that were originally due during this period, including the January 17 deadline for making quarterly estimated tax payments, will now be due on March 15, 2017. This also includes returns on extension. Remember, however, that the extensions were an extension of the time to file, not the time to pay, so payments for 2015 tax returns are still keyed to the April 18, 2016, due date.
A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected, including the October 31 and January 31 deadlines for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns.
Relief also includes a waiver of late-deposit penalties for federal payroll and excise tax deposits normally due on or after October 4 and before October 19 if those deposits are made by October 19, 2016.
The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. That means that taxpayers need not contact the IRS to get this relief. However, if you receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS and were entitled to relief, you should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.
The IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.
For more details, check out the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.
Individuals and businesses who suffered disaster-related losses not covered by insurance may be eligible for a tax break: the casualty loss deduction. You can choose to claim a casualty loss on either the return for the year the loss occurred (so, your 2016 return which you’ll file in 2017) or on an original or amended return for the prior year (that’s the 2015 tax year filed in 2016 for storm victims).
