Weather victims in Puerto Rico, South Dakota get tax relief from IRS

Individuals and businesses in Puerto Rico and South Dakota who were hit with severe weather earlier this year now have until Feb. 3 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

The same relief, which applies to all of Puerto Rico and parts of South Dakota, will be available to any other areas added later to the disaster area. The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the current list of eligible localities is on the tax relief in disaster situations page on IRS.gov.

Individuals and businesses in any of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities who were affected by Tropical Storm Ernesto, which began on Aug. 13, qualify for relief that postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred from last Aug. 13 through Feb. 3, 2025.

Affected individuals and businesses will have until next Feb. 3 to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. For example, the February deadline applies to:

• Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. Payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time because they were due last spring, before Ernesto.
• Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025. 

Penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 13 and before Aug. 28, 2024, will also be abated if the deposits are made by Aug. 28, 2024. 
In South Dakota, individuals and businesses affected by severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding that began last June 16 also now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

Individuals who have households that reside or have a business in Aurora, Bennett, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Hand, Hanson, Hutchinson, Jackson, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Tripp, Turner, Union and Yankton Counties qualify. 

The relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred from June 16, 2024, through Feb. 3, 2025; affected individuals and businesses have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file returns and pay any taxes originally due during this period. 

The February deadline in South Dakota will apply to: 

• Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. Again, payments on these returns are ineligible for the extra time because they were due last spring, before the storms.
• Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on June 17 and Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on July 31 and Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025. 

In addition, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after June 16, 2024, and before July 1, 2024, will be abated as long as the deposits were made by last July 1. 
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.  

The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an address of record in the disaster area. If an affected taxpayer does not have an address in the area (because, for example, they moved to the area after filing their return), and they receive a late-filing or late-payment penalty notice from the IRS for the postponement period, they 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 has records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period in the affected area. Qualifying taxpayers who live outside the disaster area should call the IRS at (866) 562-5227, including workers assisting the relief activities who are with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.

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.

Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in these instances, the 2024 return normally filed next year) or the return for the prior year (2023).

Taxpayers have up to six months after the due date of the taxpayer’s federal income tax return for the disaster year (without regard to any extension of time to file) to make the election. Write the FEMA declaration number — 3610-EM for Puerto Rico, 4807-DR for South Dakota — on any return claiming a loss.