Tribal nations weather victims get tax relief

An IRS office building in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York
Timothy Fadek/Bloomberg

Federal filing relief is now available for individuals and businesses in the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Nation affected by severe storms and flooding that began on June 12, 2025. These taxpayers now have until next Feb. 2 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make payments.

Following the disaster declaration issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, individuals and households residing or having a business in the counties of Burnet, Kendall, Kerr, Kimble, Menard, San Saba, Tom Green, Travis and Williamson qualify for this relief. (The nation is in the Dakotas.) 

The current list of eligible localities is on the IRS Tax Relief in Disaster Situations page.

The Feb. 2, 2026, deadline applies to individual income tax returns and payments normally due on or after June 12, 2025. The February deadline also applies to 2025 contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts for eligible taxpayers and to estimated tax payments normally due on June 16 and Sept. 15, 2025 and Jan. 15, 2026.

Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after June 12, 2025, and before June 27, 2025, will be abated if the tax deposits were made by June 27.

Payments for returns on a filing extension are ineligible for additional time to pay, as filing extensions only apply to the filing of the return and not to payments.

If an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original filing, payment or deposit due date that falls within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.

Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area should call the IRS Special Services number at (866) 562-5227 to request this relief. 

Tax practitioners in the covered disaster area who maintain records necessary to meet a filing or payment deadline for taxpayers outside the disaster area may contact IRS Special Services; if the practitioner maintains the necessary records of 10 or more clients, they should refer to the Bulk requests from practitioners for disaster relief page for additional guidance.

Affected taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred, or the prior year — in this instance, the 2025 return (normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (the 2024 return filed this year). Taxpayers have up to six months after the due date of the taxpayer's federal income tax return for the disaster year (without regard to any extension of time to file) — to make the election. For individual taxpayers, this means Oct. 15, 2026.

Affected taxpayers claiming the disaster loss on their return should put the FEMA disaster declaration number, 3624-EM, on any return.

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Tax IRS Tax relief Natural disasters
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