IRS Gives Payroll Tax Extension for Business in Sandy’s Path

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photo via ibtimes.com

Filing and paying your taxes is a serious obligation that cannot easily be avoided or postponed.  If you fail to file and/or pay on time, you will be responsible for penalties and interest that can make your tax debt add up quickly.  Penalties and interest can sometimes be avoided by showing you had reasonable cause for filing and/or paying late.  For example, if you were incapacitated by serious injury or illness, or if there was some act of God occuring in your locality that prevented you from filing or paying on time, the IRS would likely abate the penalties and interest that would have accrued during that time.

Sometimes the IRS automatically grants penalty relief when there are major storms and disasters.  Reasonable cause is presumed in these situations and the taxpayer need not provide any individual proof.  FEMA has designated certain areas affected by Hurricane Sandy and related storms as official disaster areas and the IRS followed suit by granting limited tax relief.  The IRS is giving businesses an extra seven days to make their quarterly tax deposits — 3rd Quarter deposits that are normally due on October 31st, will not be late as long as they are made by November 7th.

Isaac-related Tax Relief

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photo via egotvonline.com

Hurricane Isaac has caused an estimated $2 billion worth of damage with at least 13,000 homes and countless other structures damaged in Louisiana alone.  The devastation was enough for the IRS to announce special tax relief for the following affected counties:

  • In Louisiana: Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes.
  • In Mississippi: Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and Pearl counties.

What kind of tax relief, you ask?  The IRS basically gives taxpayers and businesses in the affected areas extensions on filing and paying certain taxes that were due on or after August 26, 2012.  For example, somebody living in Jefferson Co., Louisiana who requested a filing extension for their 2011 taxes will no longer have to file by October 15th.  Instead, the new deadline will be January 11, 2013.  And this is regardless of individual circumstances; everyone in the affected counties will be allowed to postpone filing and/or payment.  The other benefit is that the IRS will abate both penalties and interest that would otherwise accrue during the period leading up to January 11th.

It’s actually FEMA that goes out and assesses the damage, and IRS designates disaster areas based on FEMA reports.  There are 14 disaster areas now, but will that list continue to grow?  It may be too early to kiss Isaac goodbye.  A remnant of Isaac is lurking in the Gulf of Mexico that experts say could regenerate into another hurricane if conditions are just right.  Apparently this is what happened with Katrina in 2005.

 

More on Irene

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Today the IRS announced that it is providing tax relief to individuals and  businesses affected by Hurricane Irene. So far the IRS is extending relief to certain counties and municipalities in New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico.  You can visit the IRS website to see if your specific location is on the list.  And keep checking back because FEMA will continue its damage assessments, and the IRS will most likely add to this list.  If you live in one of the affected counties, then you will be able to postpone filing and paying certain taxes.  Also, if you receive a penalty notice, you may call the IRS and they will abate the penalties and interest.  If your tax preparer lives in one of the affected areas but you do not, you may be granted an extension as well.