Individuals and businesses in 67 Texas counties affected by Hurricane Beryl beginning on July 5 now have until next Feb. 3 to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.
The Internal Revenue Service is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Individuals and households that reside or have a business in the following counties qualify for this filing relief:
- Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Austin, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Calhoun, Cameron, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Colorado;
- Dewitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Freestone, Galveston, Goliad, Gregg, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hidalgo, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson;
- Kenedy, Kleberg, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, Milam, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Newton, Nueces, Orange;
- Panola, Polk, Refugio, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wharton and Willacy.
The same relief will be available to any other counties added later to the disaster area. The current list of eligible localities is on the
The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred from last July 5 through Feb. 3, 2025. Affected individuals and businesses will have until the latter date to file returns and pay any taxes originally due during this period.
For instance, the Feb. 3 deadline applies to:
- Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. Payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time because they were due last spring, before Beryl.
- Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on July 31 and Oct. 31, 2024, and on Jan. 31, 2025.
Penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after July 5, 2024, and before July 22, 2024, will be abated as long as the deposits were made by July 22.
The
The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an address of record in the disaster area. If an affected taxpayer does not have an address of record in the area (because, for example, they moved to the disaster area after filing their return), and they receive a late-filing or late-payment penalty notice from the IRS for the postponement period, they should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.
The IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but has records needed to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period in the affected area. Qualifying taxpayers who live outside the disaster area should call the IRS at (866) 562-5227, including workers assisting the relief activities who are with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.
Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who 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 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. Write the FEMA declaration number — 4798-DR — on any return claiming a loss.
