Tax Relief for Mississippi and Texas Storm Victims

Following the multiple disasters in Mississippi over the last year, and recent floods in the Houston, Texas, the Federal Management Agency (FEMA) has declared these disaster areas. As a result, IRS is providing tax relief to victims in these areas, including:

More Time to File. The immediate effect of the tax relief is the postponement of some tax deadlines. In Houston, tax due dates have been pushed to September 1, 2016, and in Mississippi the new tax deadline will depend on when you’re specific county was effected by the storm. If you are a Mississippi resident, live in an area effected by the storms, you may have a May 16 deadline, which is coming up and others have a July 15 tax deadline.

Claiming Casualty Losses. If you suffered serious property damage due to the storms, the IRS allows taxpayers to deduct casualty losses if you haven’t been reimbursed by your insurance company.  TurboTax will ask you simple questions and help you figure out your casualty losses.

No Penalties. In addition to giving the victims more time, the IRS frequently waives the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due. If you’re in the covered disaster area, the IRS will automatically identify you when you do file so you don’t have to do anything additional. Just get your return(s) to the IRS by the new, later deadlines.

If you are in the FEMA disaster area, but happen to get a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS, call the telephone number on the notice to have the IRS abate the penalty.