IRS Expands Tax Relief to Victims of Hurricane Irene – More States and Counties Included

As noted in our recent Tax Flash, last week the Internal Revenue Service issued a series of News Releases which provides tax relief to individual and business taxpayers affected by Hurricane Irene.

So far, IRS filing and payment relief applies to the following states, counties and municipalities (updated as of September 6, 2011):

• In Connecticut: Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London, Tolland and Windham;
• In Massachusetts: Bershire and Franklin;
• In Vermont: Addison, Bennington, Chittenden, Orange, Rutland, Washington, Windham and Windsor;
• In North Carolina: Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Halifax, Hyde, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico, Pitt, Tyrrell and Washington;
• In New Jersey: Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic and Somerset;
• In New York: Albany, Clinton, Delaware, Dutchess, Essex, Greene, Montgomery, Nassau, Orange, Otsego, Rensselaer, Rockland, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Sullivan, Suffolk, Ulster, Warren and Westchester; and
• In Puerto Rico: Arroyo, Aguas Buenas, Caguas, Canóvanas, Carolina, Cayey, Cidra, Coamo, Comerio, Humacao, Jayuya, Juncos, Loíza, Luquillo, Orocovis, Patillas, Ponce and San Juan.

As Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to assess the storm’s damage, more locations may become eligible for the Federal relief provisions which include a postponement of certain tax filing and payment deadlines to October 31, 2011 for corporations and businesses that previously obtained an extension until September 15, 2011, and individuals and businesses that received a similar extension until October 17, 2011.

Other relief provisions include postponement of filing and payment of estimated tax payments for the third quarter of 2011, and an extension to September 22, 2011, for returns due September 15, 2011, granted to those taxpayers whose tax return preparer is located in an area that was under an evacuation order or a severe weather warning because of Hurricane Irene.

Additional details can be found in tax relief announcements for individual states on the IRS website, www.IRS.gov (see Tax Relief in Disaster Situations on www.IRS.gov for updates).