Victims of the July severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides in parts of Kentucky may qualify for tax relief from the IRS.
President Obama declared the Kentucky counties of Leslie, Breathitt, Fleming and Perry federal disaster areas following earlier similar declarations for Carter, Johnson, Rowan and Trimble Counties. The declaration permits the IRS to postpone certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area.
For instance, certain deadlines falling on or after July 11 and on or before Nov. 2 have been postponed to Nov. 2. This includes the Sept. 15 estimated tax deadline and the Oct. 15 deadline for those who received an extension to file their 2014 return. A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected, including the July 31 deadline for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns and the Aug. 31 highway use tax return deadline for most truckers.
In addition, the IRS is waiving the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on or after July 11 as long as the deposits were made by July 27.
If an affected taxpayer receives a penalty notice from the IRS, they should call the telephone number on the notice to have the IRS abate any interest and any late-filing or late-payment penalties. Penalties or interest will be abated only for taxpayers who have an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date, including an extended filing or payment due date, that falls within the postponement period.
The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and applies automatic filing and payment relief. Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business outside the covered area must call the IRS disaster hotline at (866) 562-5227 to request this relief.
