IRS Refunds May Aid Hurricane Isabel Victims
Release Date: September 30, 2003
Release Number: 1490-20
» More Information on North Carolina Hurricane Isabel
Raleigh, NC -- Residents of North Carolina whose homes and businesses sustained damage during Hurricane Isabel should not overlook the opportunity to get an income tax refund based on casualty losses incurred in the storm.
This could mean an immediate source of badly needed cash for some storm victims.
Refunds are available to qualified taxpayers in the disaster-declared counties for taxes paid on 2002 or 2003 tax returns, whichever the taxpayers find more personally beneficial to them. These details are covered in IRS publication 547.
Taxpayers may deduct personal property losses that are not covered by insurance or other reimbursements, not including federal disaster assistance, which is not taxed. The Internal Revenue Services (IRS) requires that they deduct $100 for each casualty event and subtract 10 percent of their adjusted gross income from the total of losses.
The special tax relief for disaster victims, which also applies to relief workers, includes filing extensions and relaxation of interest and late-filing penalties on returns or taxes for reasonable cause.
Those who do not live in the declared counties still may claim casualty losses on their 2003 returns if they sustained losses in the hurricane.
Taxpayers can download forms and publications from the IRS website at www.irs.gov.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 30-Sep-2003 16:28:46