The Internal Revenue Service announced that farmers and fishermen affected by the mid-February snowstorms could ask the agency to waive any estimated tax penalties.
The IRS said that the timing and suddenness of the storm, as well as the resulting power outages, may have affected the ability of many farmers and fishermen to file their 2006 calendar year return by March 1.
To request a waiver of the estimated tax penalty, affected taxpayers should complete Form 2210-F, “Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Farmers and Fisherman,” and file it with their Form 1040 series income tax return -- writing “Request for Waiver Due to Winter Ice Storms” across the top. A statement should be attached to the form explaining why the taxpayer was unable to meet the March 1 deadline. At the top of the Form 2210-F, write “Request for Waiver Due to Winter Ice Storms.”
An individual is a farmer or fisherman for these purposes if two-thirds of the taxpayer’s total gross income for the taxable year, or the preceding taxable year, is from farming or fishing (including oyster farming).
If a taxpayer has an underpayment of estimated tax, all or part of the penalty for the underpayment may be waived if the IRS determines that the underpayment was due to a casualty, disaster or other unusual circumstance and it would be inequitable to impose the penalty.
