The Internal Revenue Service said Monday that it would provide tax penalty relief to anyone unable to file on time due to severe storms in parts of the South and Midwest over the past few days.
Power outages and transportation problems are, in some cases, making it very difficult or impossible for some taxpayers and tax professionals to meet the regular April 15 filing deadline. As a result, the IRS said on Tax Day that taxpayers directly affected by these storms would be able to qualify for penalty relief, based on reasonable cause, if, due to these storms, they are unable to file their returns or pay tax due until after tonight’s midnight deadline.
The relief applies to the late-filing penalty of normally 5 percent per month, and the late-payment penalty of normally 0.5 percent per month, as long as taxpayers file the return or pay the tax within a reasonable amount of time after the power outages and transportation problems have been resolved.
The IRS noted that affected taxpayers might still receive penalty notices from the IRS. If so, the IRS said it would abate these penalties if taxpayers request reasonable cause relief, based on the April storms. By law, however, the IRS cannot abate interest.
