Additional victims of the early May’s severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding in parts of Texas may
President Obama has declared the Texas counties of Angelina, Bastrop, Blanco, Bowie, Brazoria, Caldwell, Cherokee, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Eastland, Ellis, Erath, Fort Bend, Fannin, Fayette, Frio, Gaines, Grayson, Guadalupe, Harris, Harrison, Hays, Henderson, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Johnson, Liberty, Milam, Montague, Montgomery, Navarro, Nueces, Rusk, Smith, Travis, Trinity, Van Zandt, Walker, Wichita, Williamson and Wise a federal disaster area.
Declared counties now also include Hood, Madison, Shelby and Wharton and Red River.
Individuals who reside or have a business in these counties may qualify for tax relief.
The declaration permits the IRS to postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area. For instance, certain deadlines falling on or after May 4 and on or before Nov. 2 have been postponed to Nov. 2. This includes the May 15 deadline for many tax-exempt organizations to file their annual Form 990 and the June 15 and Sept. 15 deadlines for making quarterly estimated tax payments.
A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected, including the July 31 deadline for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns.
In addition, the IRS is waiving the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on or after May 4, as long as the deposits were made by May 19.
If an affected taxpayer receives a penalty notice from the IRS, they should call the number on the notice to have the IRS abate any interest and any late-filing or late-payment penalties. Penalties or interest will be abated only for taxpayers who have an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date, including an extended filing or payment due date, within the postponement period.
The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and applies automatic filing and payment relief. Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area must call the IRS disaster hotline at (866) 562-5227 to request this tax relief.
