Overview
IRS Offers Tax Relief for Hurricane Victims: Today, the IRS provided a recap of the relief provisions that have been made available to victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria located anywhere in Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as in parts of Texas. Individuals and businesses will have until January 31, 2018 to file any returns and pay any taxes due after the date of the applicable hurricane. This includes quarterly payroll and excise tax returns originally due on October 31, 2017 and estimated tax payments due on September 15, 2017 and January 16, 2018. The IRS is also waiving late-deposit penalties for federal payroll and excise tax deposits that were due during the first 15 days of the disaster period.
The IRS is offering special programs to assist with hurricane relief, including:
- Providing appropriate consideration to affected taxpayers. Individuals and organizations in disaster areas who are contacted by the IRS regarding a collection or examination matter should explain to the agent how the disaster has affected them so that appropriate consideration can be given.
- Allowing hardship withdrawals from retirement accounts by January 31, 2018. 401(k)s and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans may allow hurricane victims to take hardship distributions or borrow up to the specified statutory limits. Also, a person who lives outside the disaster area can take out a retirement plan loan or hardship distribution and use it to assist a son, daughter, parent, grandparent, or dependent who lived or worked in the disaster area. These loans or hardship withdrawals must be made by January 31, 2018.