IRS Offers Major Relief To Tornado Victims

People whose homes and businesses were affected by tornadoes in Ohio which began on March 14 can now apply for tax relief.

Multiple tornadoes have torn through the state this year. But the catastrophic one hit on March 14, killing three people in Logan County.

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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the tax relief areas on Thursday, adding that people now have until September 3 to file federal individual and business returns and make payments.

The offer applies to those who reside or run a business in an area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This is includes Auglaize, Crawford, Darke, Delaware, Hancock, Licking, Logan, Mercer, Miami, Richland and Union counties.

If your county is added to the disaster area at a later stage, it will also be covered by the scheme. This post will be updated with additional areas.

But the IRS said it "automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. These taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to get this relief."

It also mentioned "unique circumstances" where affected people may not have a recorded IRS address in the disaster area.

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This could include, for example, those who have moved to the disaster area after filing their tax return. Anyone in this category receiving a late filing or late payment penalty notice should call the number on the document to have the penalty abated.

The new September 3 deadline applies to:

• Individual income tax returns and payments normally due on April 15
• 2023 contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts for eligible taxpayers
• Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on April 15 and June 17
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on April 30 and July 31
• Calendar-year partnership and S corporation returns normally due on March 15
• Calendar-year corporation and fiduciary returns and payments normally due on April 15
• Calendar-year tax-exempt organization returns normally due on May 15

On top of this, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits on or after March 14 and before March 29 will be abated if the deposits were made by March 29.

On May 7, a total of 14 tornadoes in the state were officially recorded by the National Weather Service.

It comes as Texas was rocked by deadly severe weather on Thursday night, with storms leaving at least four dead and hundreds of thousands without power.

The U.S. often sees tornadoes between April and June, when spring's seasonal change brings disruptive weather.