IRS Extends Some Tax Filings For New York, Connecticut Flood Victims

By Ken Dixon
Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
(TNS)

Sep. 10—HARTFORD — Residents and business owners affected by the recent torrential storms and fatal flooding will have until Feb. 3, 2025, to submit a variety of tax filings and payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced on Tuesday.

The extended deadlines are limited to flood-damaged areas of Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties in Connecticut, as well as Suffolk County in New York that sustained damage in the historic Aug. 18 rainfall that caused landslides and mudslides. About 2,000 homes and businesses were affected in Connecticut, with reported damages of at least $300 million, with more documentation actively being gathered by state officials.

The IRS notice means that federal filing and payment deadlines between Aug. 18 and Feb. 3, 2025 will be extended to that latter date. That will cover people, businesses or tax-exempt organizations that already have extensions to file their 2023 returns. The IRS warned, however that payments are not eligible for the extension because they were due in April, months before the storms.

Also, the IRS notice means that quarterly estimated tax payments usually due in mid-September and next January can be delayed until the February date. Also delayed will be the deadlines for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due at the end of October and January.

Residents and business owners in the areas affected do not have to contact the IRS to qualify, according to a statement issued Tuesday morning. Taxpayers who want to qualify for the relief but live outside the disaster areas should contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. Those who moved to the disaster areas after filing their taxes should also notify the agency.

Those who sustained uninsured or disaster-related losses that cannot be reimbursed can choose to claim the losses on either this year’s tax filing or next year’s. The Federal Emergency Management Agency identification number for Connecticut is 3612-EM and for New York, it’s 3613-EM.

“Qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income,” the IRS said in its advisory statement. “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.”

Taxpayers with retirement accounts that they withdraw for expenses may be able to claim penalty waivers.

Further information is available at disasterassistance.gov.

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