IRS Expands Relief Area for Katrina Victims

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service today expanded tax relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida eligible for public assistance.

On Tuesday, the IRS gave taxpayers unable to meet their tax obligations in 31 Louisiana parishes, 15 Mississippi counties and 3 Alabama counties generally until Oct. 31 to file tax returns and make payments. The IRS will abate interest and any late filing or late payment penalties that would otherwise apply. This relief includes the Sept. 15 due date for estimated taxes and for calendar-year corporate returns with automatic extensions.

Today’s announcement expands the relief to cover an additional 33 parishes in Louisiana, 37 counties in Mississippi, three counties in Alabama and three counties in Florida.

These locations also qualify for the Federal Tax Deposit (FTD) Penalty Waiver Period for employment and excise tax deposits from Aug. 29 – Sept. 23, 2005. For Florida, the effective date begins Aug. 24, 2005.

For the hardest-hit areas, the IRS anticipates extending these deadlines even further in the near future.

In addition to taxpayers who reside in the disaster area, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who resides elsewhere but whose books, records or tax practitioner is located in the relief area.

The IRS has also suspended many compliance activities throughout the affected areas. This general suspension will last for a period of at least 60 days.

If people in the affected areas receive IRS notices during this period, they can call the IRS toll-free disaster hotline at 1-866-562-5227 for assistance.

In the aftermath of this natural disaster, the IRS assures individuals, businesses and tax practitioners that it is working aggressively to monitor the situation and resolve other potential tax administration issues as they are identified.

Areas Eligible for Tax Relief (New and Previously Announced Locations)

• 64 Louisiana parishes: Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Caldwell, Calcasieu, Cameron, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Iberia, Iberville, Jackson, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Orleans, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Plaquemines, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Tensas, Terrebonne, Union, Vermilion, Vernon, Washington, Webster, West Baton Rouge, West Carroll, West Feliciana and Winn;
• 52 Mississippi counties: Adams, Amite, Attala, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Claiborne, Clarke, Clay, Copiah, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Hinds, Itawamba, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Kemper, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Leake, Lee, Lincoln, Lowndes, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Rankin, Scott, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Wilkinson, and Winston;
• Six Alabama counties: Baldwin, Clarke, Choctaw, Mobile, Sumter and Washington; and
• Three Florida counties: Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe.
  

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