January 7, 2022
Hurricane Ida affected a great number of New York residents in 2021, leading the IRS to extend the October 15 deadline to January 3, 2022. Since then, the IRS has reevaluated the circumstances and updated the terms of relief and the extension. The victims now have until February 15, 2022 to catch up on their 2020 tax returns. This new extension applies to both businesses and individuals.
What else has changed for Hurricane Ida Victims?
The updated relief now covers more regions. Louisiana, Mississippi, parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania all qualify for relief. The IRS provided a list of current eligible areas on its disaster relief page in the Around the Nation section.
The postponement to February applies to the following payment deadlines:
- August 26, 2021 for Louisiana,
- August 28, 2021 for Mississippi,
- August 31, 2021 for Pennsylvania and
- September 1, 2021 for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
This only applies to individuals and businesses who had a valid extension to file their 2020 tax return by October 15, 2021. Tax exempt organizations, partnerships and S corporations are included in the deadline as well.
The Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief for Individuals and Businesses page on the IRS website provides more specific details for returns, payments and other actions that qualify for the amended deadline.
Disaster areas are automatically provided filing and penalty relief. Your address must be within the disaster area for the relief to apply to you. If you receive a letter from the IRS regarding a late filing or late payment penalty, or stating that you have a due payment before the new deadline, you can call the number provided to have the penalty abated.
Are your records located in a disaster area?
Even though you don’t reside in a disaster area, you may still be eligible for relief. Your workplace, for instance, might be located within a disaster area and that could make you eligible. You should contact the IRS at 866-562-5227 to abate penalties if you are unable to access necessary records to file. The postponement also applies to workers assisting with relief activities through philanthropic and government organizations.
Additional tax relief assistance
Do you owe back taxes from previous years that accrued penalties? While this new deadline and relief only applies to those affected by Hurricane Ida, you can still receive assistance with your case. At Optima, we help our clients with their liability case and compliance with the IRS. Give us a call at 800-536-0734 for a free consultation.