Tax Relief for Hurricane Beryl Victims in Texas

As many Texas communities continue to recover from the ruinous effects of Hurricane Beryl that occurred after July 5th, the IRS has officially announced tax relief for individuals and businesses that reside in the affected counties designated by FEMA. These counties include:

Individuals and businesses who were affected in the mentioned counties above will now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file their tax returns. This includes any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. Please note that payments on these returns are not eligible for extra time since the payments were originally due last spring before the hurricane occurred. 

Additionally, the IRS also announced quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025, and quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on July 31 and Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025, are also extended to February 3, 2025. Any penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after July 5, 2024, and before July 22, 2024, will be abated. The penalty relief is automatically applied to those affected by the storm. Taxpayers need not take any further action. 

Individuals and businesses who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses have the option to claim them on their tax return for the year the loss was incurred or the tax return of the prior year, which in this case would be the 2023 return. Taxpayers have up to 6 months after the due date of the tax return to claim the loss. Taxpayers who claim qualified disaster relief payments can generally exclude them from their gross income if the relief is used for acceptable causes such as personal/family/living or funeral expenses and reparations to their home. 

If you have any questions regarding the Hurricane Beryl tax relief and how it could possibly affect you, please do not hesitate to contact our office.