IRS Provides Tax Relief to Hurricane Milton Victims in Florida
Taxpayers in affected areas have until May to file various federal returns and make certain tax payments.
The Internal Revenue Service said Friday that it was providing tax relief for individuals and businesses in 51 counties in Florida affected by Hurricane Milton.
Individuals and businesses in six counties that previously did not qualify for relief under either Hurricane Debby or Hurricane Helene will receive disaster tax relief beginning Oct. 5 and concluding on May 1, 2025. They are Broward, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and St. Lucie.
In addition, individuals and businesses in 20 counties previously receiving relief under Debby, but not Helene will receive disaster tax relief under Hurricane Milton, from Aug. 1 through May 1.
As a result, affected taxpayers in all of Florida now have until May to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, including 2024 individual and business returns normally due during March and April 2025 and 2023 individual and corporate returns with valid extensions and quarterly estimated tax payments.
Filing and Payment Relief
The May deadline now applies to the following situations, according to the IRS announcement:
- Any individual or business that has a 2024 return normally due during March or April 2025.
- Any individual, C corporation or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their calendar-year 2023 federal return. Payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time, however, because they were due last spring before the hurricane occurred.
- 2024 quarterly estimated tax payments normally due on Jan. 15, 2025, and 2025 estimated tax payments normally due on April 15.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, Jan. 31 and April 30.
In addition, for localities affected by Hurricane Milton, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Oct. 5 and before Oct. 21 will be abated — as long as the deposits are made by Oct. 21.
The full list of eligible localities is available on the tax relief in disaster situations page on IRS.gov. The disaster assistance and emergency relief for individuals and businesses page also has important filing details, as well as information on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for relief during the postponement period.
More Reporting Details
It’s possible that affected taxpayers may not have an IRS address of record located in the disaster area, for example, because they moved to the disaster area after filing prior returns.
“In these unique circumstances, the affected taxpayer could receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS for the postponement period,” the IRS said.
The taxpayer should call the number on IRS Notice 2024-264 to have the penalty abated.
The IRS said it will also work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area.
Disaster-area tax preparers with clients located outside the disaster area can choose to use the Bulk Requests from Practitioners for Disaster Relief option on IRS.gov.
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