This year is supposed to be a very active year in the tropics, with over 20 tropical storms (some of which will be hurricanes) predicted. Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida, and then made a second landfall in the Carolinas with ongoing issues in Pennsylvania and the northeast (much of the area is under flood and or tornado watches).
The IRS announced today relief for impacted taxpayers in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. From the IRS announcement:
Affected taxpayers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.
The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, this applies to:
- All 46 counties in South Carolina.
- The following 61 counties in Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Walton, Wakulla and Washington.
- The following 55 counties in Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox and Worth.
- The following 66 counties in North Carolina: Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen , Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Davidson, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson and Yadkin.
Individuals and households that reside or have a business in any one of these localities qualify for tax relief. The same relief will be available to any other counties added later to the disaster area. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the Tax relief in disaster situations page on IRS.gov.
Given flooding today in Pennsylvania, I expect at least some counties in the Keystone state to become a federal disaster area and be eligible for this relief.
Let’s hope that the prediction for an active hurricane season is wrong and this is the last such storm to impact the United States in 2024.
