Georgia taxpayers affected by Hurricane Irma are getting a reprieve from meeting certain filing deadlines. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced yesterday that victims in the entire state of Georgia will have until January 31, 2018, to file certain individual and business tax returns. As an individual, it means if you filed for an extension on your 2016 returns, the deadline for submitting your paperwork has been extended to January 31, 2018 instead of October 16 of this year.

Yesterday’s announcement parallels relief previously offered to victims of Hurricane Irma victims throughout Florida and in parts of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, as well as to Hurricane Harvey victims in parts of Texas. As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to update its list of areas eligible for disaster relief, taxpayers in those areas will be included in the IRS’s relief actions.

For taxpayers in Georgia, the offered relief postpones several tax filing and payment deadlines dated to start occurring on September 7, 2017. Affected individuals and businesses will now have until January 31, 2018, to file returns and make quarterly estimated tax payments that would have been due this past Friday, September 15, and January 16, 2018. This includes individual returns on extension, businesses with extensions that ran out last Friday, and tax-exempt organizations on extension.

(Keep in mind, however, that the extensions were an extension of the time to file, not the time to pay. Payments due for 2016 tax returns are still held to their April 18, 2017, due date.)

What will you need to do to file for one of these relief offerings? Not a thing. The IRS has automatically provided filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located within the disaster area. Keep in mind, mistakes do happen. If you receive a penalty notice for late filing or late payment and were entitled to relief, you will need to call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.

If you were fortunate enough to escape the storm without harm, you may still be included in the relief. The reliefs extend to workers assisting in relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or charitable organization. It also extends to tax professionals who, due to the disaster, are unable to meet deadlines for clients who live in or are located outside of the disaster area.

If you or your business suffered an uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related loss at the hand of Hurricane Irma, you can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred – in this case, next year’s 2017 return – or the return for the previous year (2016).

Extra Special People, our 2017 Choice Non-Profit, suffered $30,000 in damages at their Camp Hooray campus. ESP serves children and young adults with developmental disabilities and their families by creating opportunities for the whole family through year-round thrive programs, family retreats, counseling, and holiday events. If you would like to join us in helping to restore Camp Hooray, please donate here.