This summer has been marked by a surge of flooding, too often with tragic results, across the United States.
The latest incident was deadly rain-induced flash flooding in New Jersey. That same system swamped parts of New York City’s subway system. Before that, we had the devastating July 4 Central Texas floods, as well as flooding in North Carolina.
But it’s a monsoonal system from last month in central/south central New Mexico that’s now getting Uncle Sam’s official attention.
Those storms, starting on June 23, dumped excessive rain, some of which fell along burn scars left by fires that ravaged areas of the Land of Enchantment the previous summer.
That led to flooding and landslides, and ultimately a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declaration (EM-3628-NM) for the New Mexico counties of Chaves, Lincoln, Otero, and Valencia.
IRS action follows: FEMA’s action prompted the Internal Revenue Service last week to announce tax relief for individual and business taxpayers in the designated New Mexico areas.
The affected individuals and businesses now have until next Feb. 2 to file tax returns and pay any taxes that were originally due when the deadly weather system hit.
Specifically, the IRS notes that the Feb. 2, 2026, filing deadline applies to —
- Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2024 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2025.
- Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 15, 2025, and Jan. 15, 2026.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on July 31, Oct. 31, 2025, and Jan. 31, 2026.
- Calendar-year partnerships and S corporations whose 2024 extensions run out on Sept. 15, 2025.
- Calendar-year corporations whose 2024 extensions run out on Oct. 15, 2025.
- Calendar-year tax exempt organizations whose extensions run out on Nov. 17, 2025.
Note, however, that payments for tax returns on the filing extension noted in the first bullet point above are not eligible for additional time to pay those amounts due, since the extensions are only for filing the return, not for paying tax owed. Those payments should have been made by the original April 15 deadline.
The IRS tax relief announcement has more information on the flooding tax relief. This includes how taxpayers might be eligible to claim uninsured disaster losses as itemized deductions, and special tax treatment for disaster-related distributions from workplace retirement plans or IRAs.
You also can find out about other relief at the FEMA page dedicated to the New Mexico flood disaster. FEMA will update its information if other areas are added to the original disaster declaration.
Similarly, the IRS’ online tax relief in disaster situations page will be updated as conditions warrant.
More storms likely: The new Feb. 2, 2026, deadline for New Mexico taxpayers also gets this weekend’s By the Numbers recognition.
I suspect that date unfortunately will be relevant to more Americans as 2025 progresses.
As noted at the start of this post, Mother Nature already has been on a rampage, and she doesn’t look to be slowing down. Since the late June storms in New Mexico, some of the same areas of the state have received more rain and floods.
This is all happening in the midst of a so-far relatively mild hurricane season. While the recent Texas and North Carolina floods were caused by remnants of tropical systems, historically hurricane seasons don’t peak until September.
The best we can do is be prepared for whatever catastrophic weather might come our way, and if it does hit, take advantage of the available disaster and tax relief.
You also might find these items of interest:
- A pre-disaster inventory can pay off when filing insurance or tax claims
- Resources to deal with disasters, as 2025 hurricane season gets its first named storm
- Bill to allow automatic IRS tax filing extensions in disasters awaits presidential signature
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