The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in 25 Minnesota counties affected by severe storms and flooding that began on June 16, 2024. Taxpayers in these areas now have until February 3, 2025, to file various federal tax returns and make tax payments.
Affected Areas
The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, this includes the following counties in Minnesota: Blue Earth, Carver, Cass, Cook, Cottonwood, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Itasca, Jackson, Lake, Le Sueur, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Rice, Rock, St. Louis, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Watonwan. Additional counties may be added as damage assessments continue.
Filing and Payment Relief
The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred from June 16, 2024, through February 3, 2025. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until February 3, 2025, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. This includes:
- Individual, business, or tax-exempt organization returns with valid extensions to file their 2023 federal returns.
- Quarterly estimated income tax payments due on June 17, September 16, 2024, and January 15, 2025.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns due on July 31, October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2025.
Additionally, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due between June 16 and July 1, 2024, will be abated if the deposits were made by July 1, 2024.
Automatic Relief and Additional Assistance
The IRS will automatically provide filing and penalty relief to taxpayers with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. Taxpayers who moved to the disaster area after filing their return and receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice should contact the IRS to have the penalty abated. The IRS will also work with taxpayers who live outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline during the postponement period are located in the affected area.
Additional Tax Relief Options
Individuals and businesses in federally declared disaster areas who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim these losses on either their 2024 return (filed next year) or their 2023 return (filed this year). Taxpayers have up to six months after the due date of their federal income tax return for the disaster year to make this election, with a deadline of October 15, 2025, for individual taxpayers.
Qualified disaster relief payments, including those received from government agencies for personal, family, living, or funeral expenses, as well as for the repair or rehabilitation of a home or its contents, are generally excluded from gross income. Additional relief may also be available for participants in retirement plans or IRAs, such as special disaster distributions and hardship withdrawals.
