Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on September 26, 2024, as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. The storm stretched over 500 miles from Florida to the Appalachian mountains, causing at least 130 deaths—with hundreds still missing—and resulting in flooding and power outages.
As we have noted, recovery will be slow.
The IRS has now announced tax relief for individuals and businesses affected by the storm, including the entire states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina and parts of Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.
Impacted Taxpayers
The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, this applies to:
- All counties in Alabama;
- All counties in Georgia;
- All counties in North Carolina;
- All counties in South Carolina;
- The following counties in Tennessee: Carter, Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Johnson, Unicoi and Washington.
- The following areas in Virginia: City of Galax, Grayson, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington, Wise, and Wythe counties.
- The following counties in Florida: Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Okaloosa, Pasco, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington.
The same relief will be available to other counties and states 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.
These taxpayers now have until May 1, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. That date is particularly noteworthy as it’s after the traditional tax filing deadline of April 15, 2025. Additionally, some of the areas were already extended because of Hurricane Debby—those due dates have also been pushed forward to May 1, 2025.
Filing and Payment Relief
The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines beginning on September 22, 2024, in Alabama; September 23, 2024, in Florida; September 24, 2024, in Georgia; September 25, 2024, in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia; and September 26, 2024, in Tennessee. The result is that affected individuals and businesses in those areas will have until May 1, 2025, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
The new May 1, 2025, deadline applies to any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. However, payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time because they were due last spring before the hurricane occurred.
The new deadline also applies to 2024 quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on January 15, 2025, and 2025 estimated tax payments normally due on April 15, 2025. Additionally, quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on October 31, 2024, and January 31 and April 30, 2025.
Importantly, the May 1, 2025, deadline will apply to businesses or individuals with a 2024 return normally due during March or April 2025.
In addition, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits will be abated for taxpayers. Those relief periods vary by state:
- Alabama: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 22, 2024, and before October 7, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 7, 2024.
- Florida: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 23, 2024, and before October 8, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 8, 2024.
- Georgia: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 24, 2024, and before October 9, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 9, 2024.
- North Carolina: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 25, 2024, and before October 10, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 10, 2024.
- South Carolina: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 25, 2024, and before October 10, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 10, 2024.
- Tennessee: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 26, 2024, and before October 11, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 11, 2024.
- Virginia: Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after September 25, 2024, and before October 10, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by October 10, 2024.
The disaster assistance and emergency relief for individuals and businesses page has details on other returns, payments, and tax-related actions qualifying for relief during the postponement period.
How To Get Relief
Most taxpayers won’t need to do anything to get relief. The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to taxpayers with an IRS address of record in the disaster area.
It is possible an affected taxpayer may not have an IRS address of record located in the disaster area—maybe you’ve moved, for example. If you’re entitled to relief but receive a late filing or payment penalty notice from the IRS, you should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.
The IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records are necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period and are located in the affected area. This also includes relief workers affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization. Those taxpayers need to contact the IRS at 1.866.562.5227.
Disaster area tax preparers with clients located outside the disaster area can choose to use the bulk requests from practitioners for disaster relief option, described on IRS.gov.
Casualty Loss Deductions
As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, casualty loss deductions are not available for most taxpayers though 2025. However, individuals and businesses who are in a federally declared disaster area are entitled to the deduction.
You can claim a casualty loss deduction on either the return for the year the loss occurred—that’s the 2024 return filed in 2025 for losses due to Hurricane Helene—or the return for the prior year—that’s the 2023 return normally filed in 2024. You have up to six months after the due date of your income tax return for the disaster year (without regard to any extension of time to file) to make the election—that’s October 15, 2025. Write the FEMA declaration number on any return claiming a loss.
If you’re looking for assistance, check with your tax professional. While free help is often available for taxpayers, note that normally, Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites cannot help claim disaster losses.
If you have insurance, you should file a claim with your insurance company immediately (FEMA assistance cannot help with losses already covered by insurance). And, you can’t deduct losses covered or reimbursed by insurance—you’ll want to keep great records.
Relief Payments
Qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income. This means that affected taxpayers can exclude funds received from a government agency for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living, or funeral expenses—as well as for the repair or rehabilitation of their home or the repair or replacement of its contents—from their gross income.
Additional relief may be available to affected taxpayers participating in a retirement plan or IRA. For example, a taxpayer may be eligible to take a special disaster distribution without the additional 10% early distribution tax, allowing the taxpayer to spread the income over three years. Taxpayers may also be eligible to make a hardship withdrawal. Each plan or IRA has specific rules and guidance for its participants to follow, so ask your plan administrator for more information.
More Information
The IRS disaster assistance and emergency relief for individuals and businesses page has details on other returns, payments, and tax-related actions qualifying for relief during the postponement period.
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