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Admin
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Kentucky Flood Victims Have Extended Tax Deadline
Victims of severe storms, flooding, mudslides and tornadoes beginning May 1 in Kentucky may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.
The President has declared Casey, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Metcalfe, Rockcastle, Rowan and Woodford counties federal disaster areas qualifying for individual assistance. As a result, the IRS is postponing until June 30 certain deadlines for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster area.
In addition, the IRS will waive the failure to deposit penalties for employment and excise deposits due on or after May 1 and on or before May 17, as long as the deposits were made by May 17.
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 would otherwise 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, that falls within the Postponement Period.
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 hotline at 1-866-562-5227 to request tax relief.
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 records necessary to meet a deadline listed in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(c) 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 and any individual visiting the covered disaster area who was killed or injured as a result of the disaster are entitled to relief.
Grant of Relief
Under section 7508A, the IRS gives affected taxpayers until June 30, 2010, 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 May 1, 2010, and on or before June 30, 2010.
The IRS also gives affected taxpayers until June 30 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 (August 20, 2007), that are due to be performed on or after May 1 and on or before June 30.
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 does not 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 May 1, 2010, and on or before May 17, 2010, provided the taxpayer made these deposits by May 17.
Forget to File Your Taxes?
If you owe taxes and didn’t file your tax return or request an extension by the April 15 deadline, you may face interest on any unpaid federal taxes you owe and a failure-to-file penalty. The IRS will deny a request for an extension that is filed after midnight on April 15. However, you should still file your tax return, even if it’s late.
The failure-to-file penalty is 5 percent per month, or part of a month, of the balance due, up to a maximum of 25 percent. If the tax return is more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $135 or the balance due, whichever is less.
Interest and penalties add to the total amount you owe. The sooner you file, even if you can’t pay all or some of the taxes due, the less you will owe.
Small Business Open House
The Internal Revenue Service will host a special nationwide Open House on Saturday, May 15 to help small businesses and individuals solve tax problems.
Approximately 200 IRS offices, at least one in every state, will be open May 15 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. IRS staff will be available on site or by telephone to help taxpayers work through their problems and walk out with solutions.
IRS locations will be equipped to handle issues involving notices and payments, return preparation, audits and a variety of other issues. At a previous IRS Open House on March 27, approximately two-thirds of taxpayers requested and received assistance with payments and notices.
At the March 27 Open House, 88 percent of the taxpayers who came in for help had their issues resolved the same day.