IRS Announces Relief for Taxpayers Affected by Hurricane Milton

On October 11, 2024, the IRS announced disaster tax relief for 51 counties in Florida. Affected Florida taxpayers will now have until May 1, 2025, to file various federal tax returns and make certain tax payments. The relief is substantially similar to the relief previously announced for Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene, with some notable differences. Taxpayers should refer to the news release’s list of covered counties to verify if their county is included.  

Filing and Payment Relief 

The relief applies for filing and payment deadlines occurring on or after October 5, 2024. The May 1, 2025, deadline applies to: 

• Any affected taxpayer that has a 2024 return normally due during March or April 2025,  
• Any affected taxpayer, including tax-exempt organizations, that has a valid extension of time to file their 2023 federal return (this relief applies to filing only, as payments were due last spring before the hurricane occurred),  
• 2024 quarterly estimated tax returns normally due on January 1, 2025, 
• 2025 quarterly estimated tax returns normally due on April 15, 2025, and 
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on October 31, 2024, January 31, 2025, and April 30, 2025.  

The IRS is also providing penalty relief for businesses that make payroll and excise tax deposits. Taxpayers that fail to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after October 5, 2024, but before October 21, 2024, will have any penalties abated provided they make the deposits by October 21, 2024.  

Affected taxpayers who reside in covered areas that previously received relief following Tropical Storm Debby but not Helene will have their deadlines further extended to May 1, 2025.  

The relief applies to federal tax returns and payments only. Florida may have its own state relief options.  

Automatic Tax Relief 

The relief is provided automatically for any taxpayer with an IRS address located in the disaster area. However, if a taxpayer moved to an affected area and their IRS address of record is not in the disaster area, a notice from the IRS could be received for late filing or payment during the postponement period. The taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated if this occurs.  

Some taxpayers located outside the disaster area may also qualify for relief, such as relief workers or those taxpayers whose records necessary for filing are located in the disaster area. Those taxpayers are advised to contact the IRS for relief.  

Additional Tax Relief Information   

As with Tropical Storm Debby and Hurricane Helene, additional relief may be available to affected taxpayers, including: 

• The ability to deduct uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses, 
• The exclusion of any qualified disaster relief payments from a government agency from gross income, and 
• Eligibility to take special disaster distributions from retirement plans or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) not subject to the 10% early distribution penalty (each plan or IRA has specific rules and guidance for their participants to follow). 

FBAR Relief 

The Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) also announced on October 11, 2024, that taxpayers would have until May 1, 2025, to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) for the 2023 calendar year. This relief is offered to any area designated by both FEMA and the IRS as qualifying for the agencies’ respective relief. FinCEN advised that it will work with those filers whose records are located in a covered area, even if they live outside that area, to help them meet the October 15, 2024, deadline. These filers are advised to contact FinCEN. 

Beneficial Ownership Information Report Relief 

On October 29, 2024, FinCEN also announced filing relief for reporting companies impacted by Milton. Reporting companies whose principal place of business is in an area designated by both FEMA and the IRS as qualifying for these agencies’ respective relief will be given an additional six months to file initial, corrected, and updated reports. To qualify, the reporting company’s due date must fall between October 4, 2024, and January 2, 2025. For instance, a reporting company with a due date of October 30, 2024, will now have until April 30, 2025, to file.