Congress Passes Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act
The U.S. Senate recently passed H.R. 517, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, which allows the IRS to grant tax relief when a governor declares either a disaster or state emergency rather than waiting for a federal disaster declaration. The legislation had passed the House in April, and it now goes to President Donald Trump for his signature.
Historically, the IRS was required to wait for the federal government to declare a disaster before postponing federal tax deadlines, including (but not limited to) deadlines for filing federal tax returns, paying federal taxes, making retirement plan contributions, assessing taxes, and pursuing collections.
The legislation enables the IRS to postpone federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a qualified state-declared disaster upon written request by the state’s governor or the authorities in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
In addition, the legislation increases to 120 days from 60 days the automatic extension of federal tax deadlines for certain relief workers, individuals killed or injured as a result of a federally declared disaster, and taxpayers whose principal residence, business, or tax records are located in a federally declared disaster area.