IRS Extends Due Dates for the Filing and Payment of Taxes to the Areas Affected by the Recent Earthquakes

 

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The information that follows is only a summary of the notice sent by the IRS.  We encourage you to contact TCG so that we can: clarify any doubts, fill out and file the documents required to apply for the tax relief, and develop together a schedule and action plan. 

Victims of earthquakes that took place beginning on December 28, 2019, in parts of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.

The President has declared that a major disaster exists in Puerto Rico. Following the recent disaster declaration for individual assistance issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the IRS announced today that affected taxpayers in certain areas will receive tax relief.

Individuals and households who reside or have a business in the municipalities of Guánica, Guayanilla, Peñuelas, Ponce, Utuado, and Yauco may qualify for tax relief.

The declaration permits the IRS to postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area. For instance, certain deadlines falling on or after December 28, 2019, and before April 30, 2020, are granted additional time to file through April 30, 2020.

The April 30, 2020 relief also applies to the individual income tax return due on April 15, 2020, and the quarterly estimated income tax payments due on January 15, 2020, and April 15, 2020, and to the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on April 30, 2020.

In addition, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after December 28, 2019, and before January 13, 2020, will be abated as long as the tax deposits were made by January 13, 2020.

The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and applies for automatic filing and payment relief. But affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area must call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request this tax relief.

 

Affected Taxpayers

Taxpayers eligible for the postponement of time to file returns, pay taxes, and perform other time-sensitive acts are those taxpayers listed in the disaster declaration and include individuals who live, and businesses (including tax-exempt organizations) whose principal place of business is located, in the covered disaster area. Taxpayers not in the covered disaster area but whose records are necessary to meet a deadline listed in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(c) are in the covered disaster area are also entitled to relief. In addition, all relief workers affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization assisting in the relief activities in the covered disaster area and any individual visiting the covered disaster area who was killed or injured as a result of the disaster are entitled to relief.

Under section 7508A, the IRS gives affected taxpayers until April 30, 2020, to file most tax returns (including individual, corporate, and estate and trust income tax returns; partnership returns, S corporation returns, and trust returns; estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax returns; annual information returns of tax-exempt organizations; and employment and certain excise tax returns), that have either an original or extended due date occurring on or after December 28, 2019, and before April 30, 2020.

Affected taxpayers that have an estimated income tax payment originally due on or after December 28, 2019, and before April 30, 2020, will not be subject to penalties for failure to pay estimated tax installments as long as such payments are paid on or before April 30, 2020. The IRS also gives affected taxpayers until April 30, 2020, to perform other time-sensitive actions described in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(c)(1) and Rev. Proc. 2018-58, 2018-50 IRB 990 (December 10, 2018), that are due to be performed on or after December 28, 2019, and before April 30, 2020.

The postponement of time to file and pay does not apply to information returns in the W-2, 1094, 1095, 1097, 1098, or 1099 series; to Forms 1042-S, 3921, 3922, or 8027; or to employment and excise tax deposits. However, penalties on deposits due on or after December 28, 2019, and before January 13, 2020, will be abated as long as the tax deposits were made by January 13, 2020.

 

Casualty Losses

Affected taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred or the prior year.

Individuals may deduct personal property losses that are not covered by insurance or other reimbursements.

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