Update, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024 — Hurricane Milton's landfall Oct. 9 on the Florida' central Gulf Coast prompted the IRS to once again move previously announced disaster relief tax deadlines. Now all Sunshine State taxpayers have a May 1, 2025, deadline.
Update, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 — Deadly Hurricane Helene has changed deadlines for areas in four states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina — that earlier were in Hurricane Debby’s path. Instead of Debby’s Feb. 3, 2025, deadline, affected taxpayers in those states now have a later Helene-prompted deadline of May 1, 2025.
Update, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024 — Hurricane Debby's effects continue to be felt, both physically and when it comes to taxes. The Internal Revenue Service today added Lycoming, Potter, Tioga, and Union counties in Pennsylvania to the storm's tax relief list. The Keystone State taxpayers join those in in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Vermont.
Update, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024 — Hurricane Debby has finally moved out of the United States, but her trek from Florida’s Gulf Coast, back into the Atlantic, then up the Eastern Seaboard was incredibly destructive. Remnants of Debby were still causing problems when the IRS on Aug. 9 announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina. Today, the IRS added all of Vermont to its Hurricane Debby tax relief list.
Hurricane Debby is a prime example of how the lowest hurricane classification still can be extraordinarily destructive. The deadly storm, which maxed out as a category 1 at both her landfalls, continues to wreak havoc inland.
The extent of the damage has prompted quick action by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Internal Revenue Service.
The tax agency today announced that tax relief is available to Hurricane Debby victims in all of South Carolina, most of Florida and North Carolina, and part of Georgia.
The tax relief includes a new Feb. 3, 2025, deadline for various tax obligations faced by individuals and businesses in the affected disaster areas.
Persistent pummeling: Not only has Hurricane Debby been deadly and damaging to property, she’s tenacious.
Debby's first landfall as a category 1 hurricane was at 7 a.m. Monday, Aug. 5, on Florida's Gulf Coast. She moved across southeast Georgia, took a hard right into the Atlantic, then came ashore a second time early Thursday, Aug. 7, near Bulls Bay, South Carolina.
Since then, Debby and her remnants have moved north, wreaking havoc as she's stayed inland. The system has spawned several tornadoes, including at least one deadly twister, and dumped torrential, flooding rain along its path and beyond.
The multiple ways that Debby has impacted the areas it traversed are reflected in the FEMA and IRS announcements.
But as far as tax relief, here’s the help that business and individual taxpayers now get.
Covered areas: The IRS is offering relief to any area that FEMA designates as a major disaster area. To date, that’s the following counties.
All 46 counties in South Carolina.
See update note at top of this post. All Florida counties now have a May 1, 2025, deadline. Sixty-one Florida counties. They are Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Walton, Wakulla, and Washington.
Fifty-five 55 counties in Georgia. They are Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox, and Worth.
Sixty-six 66 North Carolina counties. They are Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen , Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Davidson, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson, and Yadkin.
As is the standard practice, if FEMA adds other counties to its disaster designations in those state, the IRS tax relief will apply to those areas.
Taxes with new Feb. 3, 2025, deadline: Various tax filing and payment deadlines are covered. Since Debby arrived at different times in the five affected states, the starting point is different in each.
For Floridians in the disaster areas, the relief is granted from Aug. 1. It is Aug. 4 for taxpayers in Georgia and South Carolina disaster areas. Aug. 5 is the starting point for relief for North Carolina businesses and individuals. Vermont taxpayer relief is granted for tax obligations beginning on Aug. 8. Pennsylvania filers' relief is for tax deadlines on Aug. 9 or later.
Affected taxpayers in all those states, however, have the same ultimate new tax deadline. It’s Feb. 3, 2025. All affected individuals and businesses in the five states will have until then to file tax returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during their disaster created postponement periods.
This means, for example, that the Feb. 3, 2025, deadline now applies to any individual, business, or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension until Oct. 15 to file their 2023 federal return.
Note, however, that since any due tax was required when affected filers got the extension, and well before the hurricane, the payment component is not eligible for the extra time. If Debby-affected taxpayers still owe any tax related to their extended filing, they need to pay it as soon as possible to stop accruing late payment penalties and interest.
The new Feb. 3, 2025, also applies to —
- Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025.
Business payroll tax matters: In addition, the IRS says that in Florida, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 1, 2024, and before Aug. 16, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 16, 2024.
Similarly, in South Carolina and Georgia, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 4, 2024, and before Aug. 19, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 19, 2024.
In North Carolina, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 5, 2024, and before Aug. 20, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 20, 2024.
Vermont business filers won’t face penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 9, 2024, and before Aug. 26, 2024, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 26, 2024.
Pennsylvania businesses won’t face penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 8, 2024, and before Aug. 23, 2024, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 23, 2024.
No IRS contact needed for most: The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer whose address of record with the tax agency is located in the disaster area.
However, where a taxpayer’s official IRS address isn’t in the disaster area, for example, because they moved to the storm-struck locale after filing their returns, the IRS will work with such taxpayers. In these circumstances, affected taxpayers who receive a late filing or late payment penalty IRS notice should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.
The IRS also will provide tax relief consideration to any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area, but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area.
Similar tax relief consideration also will be given to those assisting disaster relief activities as long as they are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.
Taxpayers who live outside the disaster area, but believe they qualify for tax relief need to call the IRS toll-free at (866) 562-5227.
Claiming a disaster tax deduction: The IRS (and I) want to remind taxpayers in major disaster areas have the option to claim uninsured disaster losses as an itemized tax deduction.
They also get to choose the tax year in which to make the claim. It can be made in either the tax year in which the loss occurred, or for the prior tax year.
Filing a prior-year disaster claim could get you a tax refund now, providing money you can use toward storm recovery efforts. But run the numbers to see which filing year will get you more tax relief.
Whenever you do file a return in which special disaster tax relief is granted, write the FEMA declaration number on your return. For Florida filers that’s EM-3605-FL. It is EM-3606-SC for South Carolina filers. Georgia taxpayers need to note EM-3607-GA. It is EM-3608-NC for North Carolina taxpayers. For Vermont filers, it's EM-3609-VT. Pennsylvania taxpayers should include DR-4815-PA on their disaster-related filings.
Clicking the linked disaster declaration numbers above will take you to the FEMA page for each state, where you can find additional relief information.
As for potential disaster tax deductions, including the choice of tax year in which to make the claim, check out IRS Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts. I also discuss this option in my post Considerations in making a major disaster tax claim.
Beware disaster help scams: It’s Tax Felon Friday, but obviously the tax relief granted those who’ve endured Hurricane Debby pre-empts this regular feature.
But I do want to add this related reminder. Do not fall for disaster-related scams. This includes criminal schemes aimed at those who’ve sustained major property damages, as well as ruses that purport to raise money to help disaster victims.
You can find more in my posts on how to avoid con artists offering fake recovery help, and crooks’ ploys to take advantage of those who want help. Some of the fake help schemers create websites that look like real, IRS-authorized nonprofits.
As what’s left of Debby continues to march across the Eastern Seaboard, stay both physically and financially safe.
You also might find these items of interest:
- Resources to help deal with major natural disasters
- Hurricane season 2024 looks to be fulfilling its most-active forecast. Get ready now.
- Storm Warnings: Preparing for, recovering from, and helping those affected by natural disasters
- Feb. 3, 2025, is new tax deadline for Texas taxpayers in Hurricane Beryl's path, as well as for disaster-area taxpayers in KY and MO
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