Victims of Hurricane Ida in parts of New York and New Jersey now have until early January to file various federal individual and business returns and make tax payments.
The relief, comparable to that provided last week to Ida victims in Louisiana, is for any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as qualifying for individual or public assistance.
In New York, this includes Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens, Richmond, and Westchester Counties. In New Jersey, it includes Bergen, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Passaic, and Somerset Counties.
The relief postpones various filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Sept. 1. Affected individuals and businesses have until Jan. 3 to file returns and pay taxes that were originally due during this period. Individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2020 return that is due to run out on Oct. 15 also have until Jan. 3 to file. (Because tax payments related to these 2020 returns were due on May 17, those payments are ineligible for this relief.)
The Jan. 3 deadline also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments, due on Sept. 15, and to quarterly payroll and excise tax returns, normally due on Nov. 1. It also applies to tax-exempt organizations, operating on a calendar-year basis, that had a valid extension due to run out on Nov. 15.
Businesses with an original or extended due date that have the additional time include, among others, calendar-year partnerships and S corps with 2020 extensions that run out on Sept. 15 and calendar-year corporations whose 2020 extensions run out on Oct. 15.
Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits, due on or after Sept. 1 and before Sept. 16, will be abated as long as the deposits are made by Sept. 16.
Taxpayers in Ida-impacted localities subsequently designated by FEMA in other parts of these states will automatically receive the same relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the IRS disaster relief page. The page also details other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time.
The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. If an affected taxpayer receives a late-filing or late-payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date falling within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.
The IRS will also work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at (866) 562-5227.
This includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.
Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this instance, the 2021 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (2020).
Author: Jeff Stimpson
Original link: https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/new-york-new-jersey-ida-victims-get-tax-relief