Victims of Hurricane Isaac Benefit From IRS Tax Filing and Payment Extensions
Affected individuals and businesses in areas of Louisiana and Mississippi are getting a helpful leg-up from the IRS. Their deadline to return file and/or submit tax payments has been extended from on or after August 26, 2012 to Jan 11, 2013.
When a significant natural disaster hits – such as a hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, wildfire, blizzard, or the like – the IRS will extend upcoming federal tax deadlines for affected taxpayers if a federal disaster is declared. The extended due dates apply to most federal tax returns and payments, including those for income taxes (including estimated tax payments), payroll taxes, and excise taxes. If you’re impacted by a natural disaster, check our IRS Disaster Relief page to see if you qualify for an automatic tax filing or payment extension.
The IRS extends the tax filing deadline for businesses and individuals
In the wake of Hurricane Isaac, nearly 95,000 people have signed up for individual aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for grants to help repair homes and replace ruined belongings. For those affected, the IRS decided to extend the tax filing and payment deadlines as part of an overall Federal response to this devastating report.
Corporations, Businesses, Individuals and Estimated Tax Payments
- Pre-Hurricane Isaac tax extension deadline: September 17 - October 15, 2012
- New IRS deadline: January 11, 2013
No penalty fees
The IRS will not impose any interest, late-payment or late-filing penalties for the original deadlines prior to January. In addition, the IRS is waiving failure-to-deposit penalties for federal employment and excise tax deposits normally due on or after August 26 and before September 10, if the deposits are made by September 10, 2012.
List of affected areas
This list of locations is growing, but so far, IRS filing and payment relief applies to the following, hardest hit localities.
- Louisiana: Ascension, Jefferson, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes.
- Mississippi: Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and Pearl counties.
For updates, please visit www.irs.gov.
Next steps
For details about available relief, including information on how to get organized and claim disaster losses, see the disaster relief page on www.irs.gov.
Keep in mind that the IRS can also help obtain copies of tax returns or transcripts to help reconstruct financial records if need be.
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