Hurricane Fiona ripped through Puerto Rico this past week, leaving many without power and causing damage across the island. The last thing on most residents’ minds was the looming extension deadlines for September through October 15.
The IRS has extended the deadline to file for Puerto Rico residents to February 15, 2023.
Below is a list of return types that would qualify for an automatic extension:
- Individual returns that had a valid extension of time to file until Oct. 17, 2022 (Note, since payments were due back in April, there is no extension of time to pay)
- Business returns that had a valid extension of time to file until Sept. 15, 2022, as well as businesses who may have had an original filing deadline of Sept. 15, 2022
- Tax Exempt Organizations who had either an original filing deadline or who had a valid extension of time to file to Sept. 15, 2022
- Estimated tax payments originally due in January 2023 also are automatically extended to the Feb. 15, 2023, date
- Payroll tax returns with original due dates of Oct. 31, 2022 and Jan. 31, 2023 qualify for an automatic extension to the Feb. 15th deadline
All penalty relief is automatically provided to taxpayers living in the affected area or taxpayers whose records are in the affected area. Taxpayers do not need to file for any special extensions to receive the penalty relief; however, if they do receive penalty notices, they will need to contact the IRS to have them abated.
Additionally, casualty losses can typically only be claimed in the year in which they were incurred, however, impacted taxpayers have the option to claim uninsured casualty losses suffered from Hurricane Fiona on their 2021 income tax returns before filing.
