Disaster Relief Deadline & Payment Relief
If your tax residence is in a disaster area -you should automatically be identified by the IRS and receive automatic extensions for filing as well as payment relief for Q4 2017.
What deadlines are postponed?
The IRS has agreed to postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area.
- Most tax returns that have a due date between Aug 23 2017 and Jan 31, 2018 - will receive automatic relief.
- Types of tax returns: Including individual, corporate, and estate and trust income tax returns; partnership returns, S corporation returns, and trust returns; estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax returns; and employment and certain excise tax returns)
Payment relief
Any payments due between the aforementioned dates will receive relief from penalties and, as long as payment is made before Jan 31, 2018. This affects quarterly estimated tax payments due Sep 15, 2017 and Jan 16, 2018.
What if I am not automatically identified?
If you receive a late filing or late payment notice from the IRS, and you are eligible for relief, please call the number on the notice to request penalty abatement. The IRS disaster hotline is 866-562-5227
All tax returns submitted with disaster loss
Can I claim the losses on my tax return?
Yes - you can claim these losses on your return in the year the event occurred, or in the prior year. You can deduct personal property losses not covered by insurance or other reimbursements. Please notify your tax preparer during preparation of your tax return.
Under prior law, individuals who suffered casualty losses as a result of a Presidentially declared disaster were required to reduce the loss from each casualty event by $100 and reduce the total of their casualty losses for the tax year by 10 percent of their adjusted gross income. In addition, these individuals were required to claim their casualty losses as an itemized deduction.
The law regarding claiming losses was changed in 2009. The new law removed the 10 percent of adjusted gross income limitation for net disaster losses and allows individuals to claim the net disaster losses even if they do not itemize their deductions.
Tax returns with disaster loss on tax returns should have big red header at the top “Texas, Hurricane Harvey”.
Waiver of fees & expedite requests
If you request your transcript or prior year tax return via form 4506-T - the IRS will waive the fees and additional expedited costs for you. The form should have a big red header at the top “Texas, Hurricane Harvey”
