Some Katrina Victims Receive Filing Extensions

WASHINGTON -- The Internal Revenue Service reminded affected taxpayers from the areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama most severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina that the deadline for filing tax year 2004 and 2005 individual income tax returns is Oct. 16, 2006, according to a Wednesday press release.

The deadline applies to affected taxpayers from 31 Louisiana parishes, 49 Mississippi counties and 11 Alabama counties. For these taxpayers, the IRS has postponed until Oct. 16, 2006, the deadline for filing the following individual income tax returns:

2004 individual income tax returns, originally due on April 15, 2005, for which taxpayers obtained an extension of time to file until Oct. 15, 2005, and 2005 individual income tax returns, originally due on April 15, 2006.

No further postponements or extensions are available for tax year 2004 tax returns.

However, an additional six-month filing extension, to April 16, 2007, is available to affected taxpayers whose 2005 due date was postponed from April 17, 2006, to Oct. 16, 2006. If an affected individual taxpayer needs additional time to file beyond Oct. 16, 2006, the taxpayer must file IRS Form 4868 by Oct. 16 to receive the additional six months.

In addition, the postponement also applies to tax returns of businesses who are affected taxpayers.

All extensions should be labeled at the top in red “Hurricane Katrina” and include an estimate of the unpaid tax liability. An extension of time to file gives taxpayers extra time to get paperwork to the IRS but it does not extend the time to pay the tax due. Any tax not paid will be subject to penalty and interest beginning Oct. 17, 2006, until the tax is paid in full.

Further information on Katrina and hurricane-related issues can be found at http://www.IRS.gov. Taxpayers should type “Help for Hurricane Victims” in the search field in the upper right-hand corner of the Web page to navigate to a variety of relief information.

Hurricane victims who need help with tax matters can also call the IRS at 1 (866) 562-5227.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 9/28/06