Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act
Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act would broaden and extend the current disaster-related tax deadline relief. It would allow a state’s Governor (or the Mayor of DC) to request that the Internal Revenue Service apply the same deadline-postponement rules used for federally declared disasters to disasters declared at the state level. The bill defines a “qualified State declared disaster” to include a wide range of natural catastrophes (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts) and, regardless of cause, fires, floods, or explosions within the state. It also increases the automatic extension period from 60 days to 120 days for certain tax deadlines. The changes would take effect for disaster declarations made after enactment. In short, the bill gives states more authority to trigger IRS deadline relief for their residents during significant disasters and substantially increases the time allowed to meet certain tax obligations.
Key Points
- 1New special rule for state-declared disasters: Governors (or DC Mayor) can request that the IRS treat a qualified state-declared disaster the same as a federally declared disaster for deadline-relief purposes.
- 2Definition of qualified state-declared disaster: Includes a broad list of natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, droughts, snowstorms) and, regardless of cause, fires, floods, or explosions within any part of the state, if the Governor/Mayor determines there is damage requiring relief.
- 3Geographic scope: The term “State” includes the District of Columbia and U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands).
- 4Extended deadline relief: Mandatory extensions (for certain deadlines under the tax code) increase from 60 days to 120 days.
- 5Effective date: The amendments apply to disaster declarations made after the enactment of the bill.