ATLANTA – Hurricane Irma victims in the state of Georgia now have until January 31, 2018 to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced on Tuesday.
The deadline is eligible for all Georgians.
This includes an additional filing extension for taxpayers with valid extensions that run out on October 16 and businesses with extensions that ran out on September 15. It parallels relief previously granted to Irma victims throughout Florida and in parts of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and Harvey victims in parts of Texas.
For taxpayers in Georgia, this relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on September 7, 2017. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Jan. 31, 2018, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected including the Oct. 31 deadline for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns. Businesses with extensions also have the additional time including, among others, calendar-year partnerships whose 2016 extensions ran out on Sept. 15, 2017 and calendar-year tax-exempt organizations whose 2016 extensions run out on Nov. 15, 2017. The disaster relief page has details on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time.
In addition, the IRS is waiving late-deposit penalties for federal payroll and excise tax deposits normally due during the first 15 days of the disaster period. Check out the disaster relief page for the time periods that apply to each jurisdiction.
Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization. It also includes tax professionals who, due to the disaster, are unable to meet a tax-filing or payment deadline for their clients who live or are located outside the disaster area.
Individuals and businesses who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this instance, the 2017 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (2016).
The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by severe storms and flooding and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, visit disasterassistance.gov.
For information on government-wide efforts related to Hurricane Irma, visit www.USA.gov/hurricane-irma.
(WCTV Eyewitness News)
