Taxpayers Affected by Hurricane Helene Can Delay Their Tax Filing Deadline: IRS

Flood waters inundate the main street after Hurricane Helene passed offshore in Tarpon Springs, Fla., on Sept. 27, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is extending tax deadlines for multiple states affected by Hurricane Helene.

Hurricane Helene hit the United States late last week, wreaking havoc throughout the southeast. On Oct. 1, the IRS announced tax relief for individuals and businesses affected by the hurricane.

This includes the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, 41 counties in Florida, eight counties in Tennessee, and six counties and a city in Virginia. “

Taxpayers in these areas now have until May 1, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments,” the IRS said.

“Among other things, this includes 2024 individual and business returns normally due during March and April 2025, 2023 individual and corporate returns with valid extensions and quarterly estimated tax payments.”

The deadline postponement is applicable to taxpayers who faced tax filing and payment deadlines of Sept. 22 in Alabama, Sept. 23 in Florida, Sept. 24 in Georgia, Sept. 25 in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, and Sept. 26 in Tennessee. All these deadlines have now been extended to May 1, 2025.

If a taxpayer’s 2023 federal return was already extended, the latest deadline extension to May 1 will only be applicable to filing taxes. The payment for these returns is not eligible for the extension since payments were due last spring before the hurricane event.

“In addition, the IRS is also providing penalty relief to businesses that make payroll and excise tax deposits. Relief periods vary by state,” the agency stated.

“The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. These taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to get this relief.”

In some cases, a taxpayer may not have an IRS address record located in disaster areas, such as when someone moves to the region after filing their returns. In such circumstances, the taxpayer could receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice, which can be resolved by contacting the number on the notice.

Relief Initiatives

The IRS’s decision to provide a deadline extension to taxpayers affected by Hurricane Helene follows several similar disaster relief the agency announced in recent weeks.

On Oct. 1, the IRS extended certain tax-filing and payment deadlines for taxpayers in parts of Illinois affected by storms, tornadoes, and flooding in July. All deadlines falling on or after July 13 were extended to Feb. 3, 2025.

Last month, tax deadlines starting Sept. 10 in Louisiana were extended to Feb. 3 after the state was hit by the tropical storm Francine. Similarly, Pennsylvanian taxpayers affected by tropical storm Derby also saw their deadlines shift to Feb. 3.

In addition to deadline extensions, businesses and individuals from a zone who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed losses due to the disaster can claim losses while filing taxes.

The claim can be made either in the tax return of the year the loss occurred, or in the prior return. So, if the loss occurred in 2024, it can be claimed for the 2024 return (filed in 2025) or for the 2023 return (filed in 2024).

Moreover, disaster relief payments paid by the government can be excluded from gross income when filing taxes.

“In general, this means that affected taxpayers can exclude from their gross income amounts received from a government agency for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living, or funeral expenses, as well as for the repair or rehabilitation of their home, or for the repair or replacement of its contents,” the IRS states.

The IRS provides deadline relief not only during disasters but in other critical situations as well, like terrorism. Recently, the agency extended several tax-filing and payment deadlines for taxpayers affected by the terror attacks in Israel in 2023 and 2024.

“Any taxpayer acts that are due to be performed on or after Sept. 30, 2024, and before Sept. 30, 2025, are postponed until Sept. 30, 2025,” the IRS stated.