Video: Tax Benefits for Federally Declared Disasters
Learn what to do if you’re in a federally-declared disaster zone—or if you’re not sure if you are—and how that affects your taxes and tax deadlines.
Video transcript:
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.
Tracy Byrnes: So someone made Mother Nature very unhappy this recent year because every time you turn around, there seems to be another natural disaster happening. And therefore, someone's getting at least an extension or some break on their tax return. Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax expert and CPA is here with us right now. I mean, there are a lot of federally declared disasters this year, aren't there?
Lisa Greene-Lewis: Yes, there have been everything from fires to floods, storms. So yes, there are. And there are things that people should know as far as saving money and getting relief on filing their taxes.
Tracy Byrnes: So where's the first place you should go? Like if I believe that I was -- I mean, I would guess people know whether in a federally declared disaster zone. But if they don't, where's the first place they should go to at least get that information?
Lisa Greene-Lewis: The IRS, they do have a disaster relief page that you can go to. And then also on the TurboTax blog, we're constantly updating information as that type of relief comes in. So you can head there as well.
Tracy Byrnes: So once I figure out that I'm in a federally disaster declared zone, what are some of the things I need to know about? I mean, casualty losses abound when you're part of a disaster.
Lisa Greene-Lewis: The first thing you need to know, the IRS, they typically issue relief. So that can be relief in the form of giving you extra time to pay what you -- if you owe taxes and also file your taxes. So we saw a lot of that this year with all of the storms. There was relief in various different dates where people were able to extend without filing a tax extension.
So some of those dates -- you should look at your specific state, but a lot of them were extending the tax year 2022 deadline to July, some in September, and some in October.
Tracy Byrnes: I think that's the important thing, figure out your deadlines most importantly. Some people, sadly, might not even have documents left. So that's a whole other can of worms. But the whole casualty loss issue, do I take it this year or do I take it next year? What do I need to know about that?
Lisa Greene-Lewis: So a lot of people don't realize that there is a possibility. So let's say, for example, a disaster unfortunately happens in this year, 2023, but we're not filing our taxes yet for 2023. You can amend your tax year 2022 taxes and claim the casualty loss on there. So that's one thing that a lot of people are unaware of. Or if you want, you can just wait until we're filing tax year 2023 taxes.
Tracy Byrnes: So I guess it depends on how quickly you need the money, and if you want to go back and amend and you have that capability. Look, I think the big takeaway here is if you are in a federally declared area, you should go either on to the IRS's site or TurboTax site, figure out the benefit you get from it, and take advantage of it because it certainly was a hardship. Lisa Greene-Lewis, TurboTax expert and CPA. Thank you for sharing that.
Lisa Greene-Lewis: Thank you for having me.
