Department of Revenue Offers Tax Relief For Georgians Impacted By Hurricane Debby

The Department of Revenue today announced that certain return and payment deadlines for taxpayers have been extended to February 3, 2025, for Georgians impacted by Hurricane Debby in the following counties: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox and Worth.

“As we continue to seek out ways to help those impacted by Hurricane Debby, individuals who were impacted by Hurricane Debby and businesses whose records required for tax compliance are located in the disaster area will receive the extended deadline,” said State Revenue Commissioner Frank O’Connell. “The extension applies to return filing and other time-sensitive acts as specified by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We continue to pray for all those impacted by this storm and encourage Georgians to follow the guidance of Governor Kemp and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.”

Affected taxpayers who had a valid extension until October 16, 2024, to file their 2023 return will now have until February 3, 2025, to file their return. Because tax payments related to these 2023 returns were due on April 18, 2024, however, those overdue payments are not eligible for this relief.

The February 3, 2025 extension date also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments due on September 16, 2024, and January 16, 2025; quarterly payroll and excise tax returns due on October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2025; calendar-year partnerships and S corporations whose 2023 extensions expire on September 16, 2024; calendar-year corporations whose 2023 extensions expire on October 16, 2024; and calendar-year tax-exempt organizations whose extensions expire on November 15, 2024.

The extended deadlines for filing and payments do not apply to information returns in the W-2 and 1099 series; or to Forms 1042-S; or to employment and excise tax deposits. However, penalties on deposits due on or after August 30, 2024, and before September 16, 2024, will be abated as long as the tax deposits were made by September 16, 2023. It also does not apply to International Fuel Tax Agreement Interest or scheduled payments which are the result of a taxpayer entering into an Installment Payment Agreement since those liabilities were due prior to the disaster relief.

The extended deadline also includes return filing, tax payment, and other time-sensitive acts related to Georgia tax types such as Georgia sales and use tax. The relief includes monthly sales tax returns and payments originally due in the months of September 2024 through January 2025.  It also includes quarterly sales tax returns and payments due on October 20, 2024, and January 22, 2025, as well as annual sales tax returns due on January 22, 2025. These sales tax returns also will be due by February 3, 2025.

Affected taxpayers filing paper returns should write: “Hurricane Debby” across the top of any forms submitted to the Department.  The relief also applies to taxpayers not in the disaster area but whose records are located in the disaster area. In addition, all relief workers affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization assisting in relief activities in the covered disaster area are eligible for the relief as well as any individual visiting the covered disaster area who was injured or killed as a result of the disaster.

Any taxpayer, whether filing paper or electronic returns, who is assessed a penalty and believes they did not receive due consideration regarding the relief, needs assistance, or has questions should contact DOR Headquarters at 1-877-423-6711.

Earlier this week, the IRS extended similar tax relief to those impacted by Debby in Georgia. See that release below.

The Internal Revenue Service today announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in four states affected by Hurricane Debby.

Affected taxpayers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia now have until Feb. 3, 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, this applies to:

• All 46 counties in South Carolina.
• The following 61 counties in Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Walton, Wakulla and Washington.
• The following 55 counties in Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox and Worth.
• The following 66 counties in North Carolina: Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen , Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Davidson, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson and Yadkin.

Individuals and households that reside or have a business in any one of these localities 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.

Filing and payment relief

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred beginning on Aug. 1, 2024, in Florida, Aug. 4, 2024, in Georgia and South Carolina, and Aug.5, 2024, in North Carolina. The relief period continues through Feb. 3, 2025 (postponement period), in all four states. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.

This means, for example, that the Feb. 3, 2025, deadline will now apply to:

• Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2023 federal return. The IRS noted, however, that payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time because they were due last spring before the hurricane occurred.
• Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 16, 2024, and Jan. 15, 2025.
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025.

In addition, in Florida, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 1, 2024, and before Aug. 16, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 16, 2024. Similarly, in South Carolina and Georgia, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 4, 2024, and before Aug. 19, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 19, 2024. In North Carolina, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 5, 2024, and before Aug. 20, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 20, 2024.

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.

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.

It is possible 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 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. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization. Disaster area tax preparers with clients located outside the disaster area can choose to use the bulk requests from practitioners for disaster relief option, described on IRS.gov.

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 2024 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (the 2023 return filed this year). 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, 2025. Be sure to write the FEMA declaration number – 3605-EM for Florida, 3606-EM for South Carolina, 3607-EM for Georgia and 3608-EM for North Carolina − on any return claiming a loss. See Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts, for details.

Qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income. In general, this means that affected taxpayers can exclude from their gross income amounts 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. See Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income, for details.

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.

The IRS may provide additional disaster relief in the future.

The 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. For information on disaster recovery, visit DisasterAssistance.gov.

Reminder about tax return preparation options

• Eligible individuals or families can get free help preparing their tax return at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) or Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) sites. To find the closest free tax help site, use the VITA Locator Tool or call 800-906-9887. Note that normally, VITA sites cannot help claim disaster losses.
• To find an AARP Tax-Aide site, use the AARP Site Locator Tool or call 888-227-7669.
• Any individual or family whose adjusted gross income (AGI) was $79,000 or less in 2023 can use IRS Free File’s guided tax software at no cost. There are products in English and Spanish.
• Another Free File option is Free File Fillable Forms. These are electronic federal tax forms, equivalent to a paper 1040 and are designed for taxpayers who are comfortable filling out IRS tax forms. Anyone, regardless of income, can use this option.
• MilTax, a Department of Defense program, offers free return preparation software and electronic filing for federal tax returns and up to three state income tax returns. It’s available for all military members and some veterans, with no income limit.