Responding to the devastation recently wrought by Hurricane Debby, the IRS announced tax relief for some individuals and businesses in four states affected by the storm. Affected taxpayers in specified counties in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred beginning on Aug. 1, in Florida, Aug. 4, in Georgia and South Carolina, and Aug.5, in North Carolina.

The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, this applies to all 46 counties in South Carolina, 61 counties in Florida, 55 counties in Georgia, and 66 counties in North Carolina.

Individuals and households that reside or have a business in any one of these localities qualify for tax relief. The same relief will be available to any other counties added later to the disaster area. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the Tax relief in disaster situations page.

Any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area does not need to contact the agency to get this relief.  The IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.

The Feb. 3, 2025, deadline will now apply to the following taxpayers:

● Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. The IRS noted, however, that payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time because they were due last spring before the hurricane occurred;

● Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025; and

● Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025.

Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area that suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this instance, the 2024 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (the 2023 return filed this year). Taxpayers have extra time—up to six months after the due date of the taxpayer’s federal income tax return for the disaster year (without regard to any extension of time to file)—to make the election. For individual taxpayers, this means Oct. 15, 2025. Taxpayers should make sure to write the FEMA declaration number—3605-EM for Florida, 3606-EM for South Carolina, 3607-EM for Georgia and 3608-EM for North Carolina—on any return claiming a loss. See Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts, for details.

Qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income. In general, this means that affected taxpayers can exclude from their gross income amounts received from a government agency for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living or funeral expenses, as well as for the repair or rehabilitation of their home, or for the repair or replacement of its contents. See Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income, for details.

The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by these storms and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, taxpayers can visit DisasterAssistance.gov.