Taxpayers Affected by Hurricane Ian Receive Tax Relief

The IRS announced that hurricane-impacted taxpayers in Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina will receive tax relief as part of the disaster declaration issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This is an update to the IRS’s previous announcement that addressed only Florida taxpayer relief. The current list of localities eligible for relief is updated continually on the IRS’s disaster relief webpage, and taxpayers can check there for the most recent information.

Hurricane Ian victims in the three states can postpone certain tax-filing and tax-payment deadlines that were due between September 23, 2022, and February 15, 2023. They are now due on February 15, 2023. Examples include:

• Individuals with valid extensions on their 2021 returns originally were required to file by October 17, 2022, but now have until February 15, 2023. However, payments for those returns were due April 18, 2022, and as such do not qualify for disaster relief.
• Quarterly estimated tax payments ordinarily due January 17, 2023, as well as quarterly payroll and excise tax returns due on October 31, 2022, and January 31, 2023, now have their deadlines postponed until February 15, 2023.
• Business tax returns with an initial or extended due date in this timeframe also qualify for relief. This includes businesses that had 2021 extensions due by October 17, 2022, which are now due February 15, 2023.

Additionally, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits are abated as follows:

• Florida – Those originally due between September 23, 2022, and October 10, 2022, will be abated provided those payments are made by October 10, 2022.
• North Carolina – Those originally due between September 28, 2022, and October 13, 2022, will be abated provided those payments are made by October 13, 2022.
• South Carolina – Those originally due between September 25, 2022, and October 11, 2022, will be abated provided those payments are made by October 11, 2022.

Affected taxpayers who receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice for deadlines that fall within this postponement period should contact the IRS at the phone number provided in the notice.

Further information can be found online in IRS briefings FL-2022-19 and IR-2022-173. Taxpayers can contact the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request tax relief. Contact your HW&Co. advisor for additional guidance with this process.

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