Taxpayers impacted by the unimaginable events of the past week, and still ongoing, now have until Oct. 15, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.
The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, individuals and households that reside or have a business in Los Angeles County qualify for tax relief. The same relief will be available to any other counties added later to the disaster area. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the Tax relief in disaster situations page on IRS.gov (link below)
Filing and payment relief
The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred from Jan. 7, 2025, through Oct. 15, 2025 (postponement period). As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Oct. 15, 2025, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
This means, for example, that the Oct. 15, 2025, deadline will now apply to:
- Individual income tax returns and payments normally due on April 15, 2025.
- 2024 contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts for eligible taxpayers.
- 2024 quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Jan. 15, 2025, and estimated tax payments normally due on April 15, June 16 and Sept. 15, 2025.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Jan. 31, April 30 and July 31, 2025.
- Calendar-year partnership and S corporation returns normally due on March 17, 2025.
- Calendar-year corporation and fiduciary returns and payments normally due on April 15, 2025.
- Calendar-year tax-exempt organization returns normally due on May 15, 2025.Penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Jan. 7, 2025, and before Jan. 22, 2025, will be abated as long as the deposits are made by Jan. 22, 2025.The Disaster assistance and emergency relief for individuals and businesses page has details on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for relief during the postponement period. (link below)
Tax Relief for taxpayers not located in the disaster area
The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. These taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to get this relief.
An affected taxpayer may not have an IRS address of record located in the disaster area, for example, because they moved to the disaster area after filing their return. In these kinds of unique circumstances, the affected taxpayer could receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS for the postponement period. The taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.
- In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area.
- This also includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.
- If your Tax preparer is located in the disaster area that preparer’s clients also qualify for filing and payment relief in most cases. I WILL BE FILING THESE EXCEPTIONS FOR MY CLIENTS IN ALL 50 STATES AND ABROAD AS NECESSARY.
Additional tax relief
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 2025 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (2024). 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, 2026.
Most disaster relief is not taxable
Qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income. In general, this means that affected taxpayers monies 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 are not taxable.
Additional relief may be available to affected taxpayers who participate in a retirement plan or individual retirement arrangement (IRA). For example, a taxpayer may be eligible to take a special disaster distribution that would not be subject to the additional 10% early distribution tax and allows the taxpayer to spread the income over three years. Taxpayers may also be eligible to make a hardship withdrawal. Each plan or IRA has specific rules and guidance for their participants to follow.
Tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by these storms and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA.
We will continue to keep you updated as new information becomes available.