IRS Offers Tax Relief to Minnesota Victims of Severe Storms and Floods

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in 25 Minnesota counties affected by severe storms and flooding that began on June 16, 2024. Taxpayers in these areas now have until February 3, 2025, to file their federal taxes. various. returns and makes tax payments.

Areas Affected

The IRS provides assistance in any location designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, this includes the following counties in Minnesota: Blue Earth, Carver, Cass, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Watonwan. Additional regions may be added as damage assessments continue.

Filing and Release of Payment

The tax exemption postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred from June 16, 2024, until February 3, 2025. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until February 3, 2025, to file forms and pay any the taxes that existed in the beginning. because of this time. This includes:

• An individual, business, or tax-exempt organization returns with valid extensions to file their 2023 federal returns.
• Quarterly estimated tax payments are due on June 17, September 16, 2024, and January 15, 2025.
• Quarterly payments and excise tax returns due July 31, October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2025.

Additionally, penalties for failure to make payment and excise tax deposits due between June 16 and July 1, 2024, will be reduced if deposits are made by July 1, 2024.

Auto Help and Additional Help

The IRS will automatically provide filing and penalty relief to taxpayers with an IRS address of record in the disaster area. Taxpayers who moved to a disaster area after filing their returns and receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice should contact the IRS to have the penalty reduced. The IRS will also work with taxpayers who live outside the disaster area but whose records needed to meet the deadline within the deferral period are located in the affected area.

Additional Tax Exemption Options

Individuals and businesses in government-declared disaster areas who have suffered catastrophic or unreimbursed losses can choose to claim these losses on their 2024 return (filed next year) or their 2023 return (filed this year). Taxpayers have up to six months after the due date of their income tax return for the crisis year to make this election, which has a deadline of October 15, 2025, for individual taxpayers.

Qualified disaster relief payments, including those received from government agencies for personal, family, living, or funeral expenses, and for repairs or renovations to the home or its contents, are generally excluded from gross income. Additional assistance may be available to participants in retirement plans or IRAs, such as special risk distributions and hardship withdrawals.