18 October 2017 IRS offers tax relief for organizations and individuals affected by California wildfires The IRS has postponed (IR-2017-172, CA-2017-06) certain deadlines for filing returns and making tax payments for organizations and individuals affected by the wildfires taking place in California beginning October 8, 2017. As a result of the wildfires, the President has declared that a major disaster exists in California and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has made the necessary formal declarations. The disaster declaration permits the IRS to offer tax relief to taxpayers who reside or have a business in affected areas. Currently, the covered disaster area includes the counties of Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sonoma and Yuba. As tax relief for those affected by the California wildfires, the IRS is postponing until January 31, 2018, certain deadlines falling on or after October 8, 2017, and on or before January 31, 2018. Some of the affected deadlines include: 1. November 15, 2017, deadline for calendar-year exempt organizations that had an automatic extension of time to file annual Form 990 2. October 16, 2017, deadline for individual taxpayers that had a valid extension of time to file a 2016 return The IRS is also waiving failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on or after October 8, 2017, as long as the deposits were made by October 23, 2017. Affected taxpayers include individuals who live in, and businesses with their principal place of business located in, the covered disaster area. The IRS will automatically apply the filing and payment relief to taxpayers located in the covered disaster area. Taxpayers located outside the covered disaster area with records necessary to meet deadlines located inside the covered disaster area are also entitled to relief, and should call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request relief. Relief also applies to government and charity relief workers assisting in the area, as well as individuals injured or killed as result of the California wildfires. Affected taxpayers who receive a penalty notice from the IRS should call the number on the notice to abate any applicable late filing or late payment penalties and interest. The extended deadlines provide welcome relief to individuals and businesses affected by the recent wildfires, and should give them adequate time to meet their filing and payment obligations. Taxpayers who cannot meet the extended deadline, for whatever reason, should contact the IRS directly, as filings and payments made after January 31, 2018 will be considered late, with interest and penalties applying. The general relief provided by the IRS allows tax-exempt organizations with their principal place of business located in the covered disaster to use an extended deadline for filing Form 990 series returns that would normally be due on November 15, 2017, or October 16, 2017, for certain trusts filing Form 990-T. This relief extends to other forms that may be required by tax-exempt organizations, such as quarterly payroll and excise tax returns, and to payment of certain quarterly taxes due during the affected deadline period. If your organization was affected by the California wildfires, please contact your EY professional for further information on whether you may qualify for this relief. — For more information about EY's Exempt Organization Tax Services group, visit us at www.ey.com/ExemptOrg
Document ID: 2017-1731 | |||||||||
