The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced tax relief measures for parts of Tennessee and Montana following recent natural disasters, giving affected individuals and businesses extra time to meet certain federal filing and payment obligations.
Why It Matters
The extensions apply to specific counties and regions impacted by severe weather. The relief is limited to those living or operating in officially recognized disaster zones, and only applies to tax obligations falling within the specified time frames.
Federal tax returns and payments are due on April 15. More than 88 million returns have already been filed and processed, with more than 62 million refunds delivered so far.
Tennessee
Taxpayers in several areas of Tennessee are being granted additional time after Winter Storm Fern, which began on January 22, 2026. The IRS said individuals and businesses in qualifying locations will now have until May 22, 2026, to file a range of federal tax returns and make payments that would otherwise have been due earlier in the year.
The relief follows a disaster declaration issued by the state, covering residents and businesses in the following counties: Cheatham, Chester, Clay, Davidson, Decatur, Dickson, Hardeman, Hardin, Henderson, Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Macon, Maury, McNairy, Perry, Robertson, Rutherford, Summer, Trousdale, Wayne, Williamson and Wilson.
The IRS said that any filing or payment deadlines falling between January 22 and May 22 are now postponed for those who reside or have businesses in these areas.
The extension also applies to quarterly payroll and some excise tax returns that would typically be due on February 2 and April 30.
Montana
Separate relief has also been announced for parts of Montana following severe storms and flooding that began on December 10, 2025. Eligible taxpayers in the affected regions now have until May 1, 2026, to file federal returns and pay taxes that would otherwise have been due earlier.
The extension applies to those living or operating businesses in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, as well as Lincoln and Sanders Counties.
For these taxpayers, any deadlines falling between December 10, 2025, and May 1, 2026, are covered by the relief. This includes individual income tax filings and payments, as well as estimated tax payments that were originally due on January 15 and April 15.
The May 1 deadline also applies to 2025 contributions to individual retirement accounts and health savings accounts for eligible individuals. As in Tennessee, certain business-related filings are included, such as quarterly payroll and excise tax returns due in early February and late April.
Read the full article here
