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Fire Victims May Qualify for IRS Tax Relief
Victims of recent wildfires in California, including the Tea Fire, may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service. The federal government has declared Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties presidential disaster areas qualifying for individual assistance.
As a result, the IRS is postponing until Feb. 11, 2009, certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area. The postponement applies to return filing, tax payment and certain other time-sensitive acts otherwise due between Nov. 13, 2008, and Feb. 11, 2009.
In addition, the IRS will waive the failure to deposit penalties for employment and excise deposits due on or after Nov. 13 and on or before Nov. 28, as long as the deposits are made by Nov. 28.
If an affected taxpayer receives a penalty notice from the IRS, the taxpayer should call the telephone number on the notice to have the IRS abate any interest and any late filing or late payment penalties that otherwise would apply. 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, from Nov. 13, 2008, to Feb. 11, 2009.
IRS computer systems automatically identify taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and apply automatic filing and payment relief. Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area must call the IRS disaster hot line at 866.562.5227 to request tax relief.
Covered Disaster Area
The group of counties listed above constitutes a covered disaster area for purposes of Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(d)(2) and are entitled to the relief detailed below.
Affected Taxpayers
Taxpayers considered to be affected taxpayers eligible for the postponement of time to file returns, pay taxes and perform other time-sensitive acts are those taxpayers listed in Treas. Reg.
§ 301.7508A-1(d)(1), and include individuals who live, and businesses whose principal place of business is located, in the covered disaster area. Taxpayers not in the covered disaster area, but whose books, records or tax professionals’ offices are in the covered disaster area, are also entitled to relief. In addition, all relief workers affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization assisting in the relief activities in the covered disaster area are eligible for relief.
Grant of Relief
Under section 7508A, the IRS gives affected taxpayers until Feb. 11, 2009, to file most tax returns (including individual, corporate, and estate and trust income tax returns; partnership returns, S corporation returns and trust returns; estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax returns; and employment and certain excise tax returns), or to make tax payments, including estimated tax payments, that have either an original or extended due date occurring on or after Nov. 13, 2008, and on or before Feb. 11, 2009.
The IRS also gives affected taxpayers until Feb. 11, 2009, to perform other time-sensitive actions described in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(c)(1) and Rev. Proc. 2007-56, 2007-34 I.R.B. 388 (Aug. 20, 2007), that are due to be performed on or after Nov. 13, 2008, and on or before Feb. 11, 2009. This relief also includes the filing of Form 5500 series returns, in the manner described in section 8 of Rev. Proc. 2007-56. The relief described in section 17 of Rev. Proc. 2007-56, pertaining to like-kind exchanges of property, also applies to certain taxpayers who are not otherwise affected taxpayers and may include acts required to be performed before or after the period above.
The postponement of time to file and pay does not apply to information returns in the W-2, 1098, 1099 series, or to Forms 1042-S or 8027. Penalties for failure to timely file information returns can be waived under existing procedures for reasonable cause. Likewise, the postponement doesn’t apply to employment and excise tax deposits. The IRS, however, will abate penalties for failure to make timely employment and excise deposits, due on or after Nov. 13 and on or before Nov. 28, provided the taxpayer made these deposits by Nov. 28.
Casualty Losses
Affected taxpayers in a presidentially declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either this year or last year. Claiming the loss on an original or amended return for last year will get the taxpayer an earlier refund, but waiting to claim the loss on this year’s return could result in a greater tax saving, depending on other income factors.
Individuals may deduct personal property losses that are not covered by insurance or other reimbursements, but they must first subtract $100 for each casualty event and then subtract 10 percent of their adjusted gross income from their total casualty losses for the year. For details on figuring a casualty loss deduction, see IRS Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters and Thefts.
Affected taxpayers claiming the disaster loss on last year’s return should put the Disaster Designation “California/Wildfires” at the top of the form so that the IRS can expedite the processing of the refund.
Other Relief
The IRS will waive the usual fees and expedite requests for copies of previously filed tax returns for affected taxpayers. Taxpayers should put the assigned Disaster Designation in red ink at the top of Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return, or Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return, as appropriate, and submit it to the IRS.
Affected taxpayers who are contacted by the IRS on a collection or examination matter should explain how the disaster impacts them so that the IRS can provide appropriate consideration to their case.
Taxpayers may download forms and publications from the official IRS Web site, www.irs.gov, or order them by calling 800.TAX.FORM (800.829.3676). The IRS toll-free number for general tax questions is 800.829.1040.
— Victor Omelczenko is an Internal Revenue Service media relations specialist.
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» on 11.22.08 @ 06:30 AM
I hate to contradict a media relations specialist from the IRS but unless the rules have changed the “help” from the IRS is non-existant and grossly misleading.
We lost our home and everything in it in the Painted Cave fire including an expensive and classic sports car we could not drive out. (too small to load with any personal property and not enough drivers). We had over $100,000 in uninsured casualty losses and assumed that at least we would get back some of the money by deducting the losses and spreading it back to prior years to enjoy a modest “tax break”.
Enter the insidious “minimum alternative tax rule”. This provision, inserted into the Code in the tax reform act of 1986, was supposedly enacted to prevent high earners from avoiding taxes, usually by investing in depreciable properties. Using such investment properties then allowed these high earners to deduct that depreciation against their high personal earnings thus lowering or eliminating the income taxes they had to pay.
However the same rule is applied to those who have suffered casualty losses and have a “tax deduction” under other sections of the code. In my view, the “minimum alternative tax rule” should NEVER HAVE BEEN APPLIED to any bona fide casualty loss.
But despite the clamour to change or eliminate this rule from the Code over the past decade there has been absolutely NO movement in Congress to do so. After all, it might reduce the amount of tax revenue taken from the public by our federal government, even monies to be extracted from the victims of tragedies.
It seems like the IRS has never had any trouble kicking someone who is down and out like the victims of major casualties! Someone should inform Victor Omelczenko although he probably would’nt want to include such information in his public relations spiel!
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