IRS Offers Relief For Disaster Victims
Release Date: October 23, 2005
Release Number: 1603-106
» More Information on Louisiana Hurricane Katrina
BATON ROUGE, La. Federal and state officials said today victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita may be eligible for tax relief. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has enacted recent relief bills to help ease the recovery process. These bills include tax extensions as well as other broad-based plans to enable residents to get back on their feet sooner.
Congress signed a tax relief bill for impacted Katrina victims stating residents who lived in the disaster-declared parishes will no longer have to deduct 10 percent of their adjusted gross income and a $100 deductible to claim disaster losses on their federal taxes.
Deadlines for affected taxpayers to file returns, pay taxes and perform other time-sensitive acts have been postponed to Feb. 28, 2006. This new deadline includes individuals who had applied for an extended due date falling on or before Sept. 23, 2005. It also covers people who had applied for a second extension for filing individual income tax returns and quarterly federal employment and excise tax returns.
For those disaster-declared parishes, the tax relief will be automatic, and taxpayers will not need to do anything to get the extensions and other relief available. Affected residents outside the disaster-declared parishes will need to self-identify. The IRS encourages writing "Hurricane Katrina" or "Hurricane Rita" in red ink at the top of their tax forms or other documents to be filed.
The IRS will work with anyone who resides outside of the disaster-declared areas but whose books, records or tax practitioner was located in the affected areas. If taxpayers who meet the criteria for tax relief receive an IRS notice, which does not reflect their disaster-victim status, they are advised to call the IRS toll-free disaster hotline at 1-866-562-5227 for assistance. For additional tax information, log onto the official IRS Web site www.irs.gov or the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation Web site www.house.gov/jct.
The IRS has 5,000 telephone operators working with FEMA to answer tax-related questions. For information regarding disaster assistance from FEMA, call 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), or TTY 1-800-462-7585 for people who are speech- or hearing-impaired. Lines are open 24-hours a day, seven days a week until further notice. Hurricane victims may also register online at www.fema.gov, or they can get assistance in registering at any Disaster Recovery Center (DRC).
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Monday, 24-Oct-2005 08:24:37