The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in Mississippi affected by severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes, and flooding starting April 8, 2024. Taxpayers in affected areas now have until November 1, 2024, to file federal tax returns and make payments.
The IRS offers relief to areas designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This includes individuals and businesses in Hancock, Hinds, Humphreys, Madison, Neshoba, and Scott counties. Additional counties may be added later. The current list of eligible areas is available on the IRS website.
The tax relief postpones various deadlines from April 8, 2024, to November 1, 2024. This extension applies to individual income tax returns, contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts, quarterly estimated tax payments, and quarterly payroll and excise tax returns. Penalties for payroll and excise tax deposits due after April 8, 2024, and before April 23, 2024, will be waived if deposits were made by April 23, 2024.
The IRS automatically provides this relief to taxpayers with an IRS address in the disaster area. Affected taxpayers without an IRS address in the disaster area should call the IRS if they receive a late filing or payment penalty notice. The IRS will also work with those living outside the disaster area but whose records needed for filing are in the affected area. These taxpayers should contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.
Additional tax relief includes the option to claim disaster-related losses on either the return for the year the loss occurred or the previous year’s return. Affected taxpayers can exclude qualified disaster relief payments from gross income. Additional relief may be available for retirement plan participants, such as special disaster distributions not subject to the 10% early distribution tax and hardship withdrawals.
The IRS may provide further disaster relief in the future. This tax relief is part of a federal response to the damage caused by these storms. For more information on disaster recovery, visit DisasterAssistance.gov.
Eligible individuals or families can get free help preparing their tax returns at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) or Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) sites. To find the nearest free tax help site, use the VITA Locator Tool or call 800-906-9887. To find an AARP Tax-Aide site, use the AARP Site Locator Tool or call 888-227-7669. Individuals or families with an adjusted gross income of $79,000 or less in 2023 can use IRS Free File’s guided tax software at no cost. 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 for military members and some veterans.