IRS Announces Tax Relief for Hurricane Beryl Victims

July 29, 2024

The IRS issued news release IR-2024-191 announcing tax relief for Texas taxpayers that were affected by Hurricane Beryl.

The relief is available for individuals and businesses (including tax-exempt organizations) that filed valid extensions of time to file their 2023 federal income tax returns and that reside or are located in the following Texas counties:

Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Austin, Bowie, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Calhoun, Cameron, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Colorado, Dewitt, Fayette, Fort Bend, Freestone, Galveston, Goliad, Gregg, Grimes, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Hidalgo, Houston, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Kenedy, Kleberg, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Marion, Matagorda, Milam, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Newton, Nueces, Orange, Panola, Polk, Refugio, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, San Patricio, Shelby, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Victoria, Walker, Waller, Washington, Webb, Wharton, and Willacy.

Affected taxpayers have until February 3, 2025, to file various federal tax returns and make federal tax payments that were originally due from July 5, 2024, to February 3, 2025.

The postponed deadline also applies to quarterly estimated tax payments due on September 16, 2024, and January 15, 2025, and quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on July 31, 2024, October 31, 2024, and January 31, 2025. The IRS will abate penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after July 5, 2024, and before July 22, 2024, if the deposits were made by July 22, 2024.

The IRS will automatically identify taxpayers residing or located in the disaster area to apply filing and payment relief. Affected taxpayers not residing or located in the disaster area that have tax records located there should call the IRS disaster hotline at (866) 562-5227 to request relief. Affected taxpayers that receive a late filing or payment penalty notice with an original due date falling in the postponement period should contact the IRS to request abatement.

In addition to the postponed filing and deadline dates, the IRS release provides other favorable relief provisions including:

• An affected taxpayer may claim an uninsured or unreimbursed loss related to Hurricane Beryl on its federal income tax return for the year the loss was sustained (2024 return filed in 2025) or the previous year (2023 return filed in 2024). The deadline for individual taxpayers to make the election is October 15th, 2025.
• Qualified disaster relief payments, including payments from a governmental agency for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living or funeral expenses or for the repair and rehabilitation of a home or the repair or replacement of its contents, generally will be excludible from taxable income.
• Individuals may be eligible to take a hardship distribution or a special disaster distribution from a qualified retirement plan or IRA that would be taxable over a three-year period and would not be subject to the 10% early distribution penalty.

Disclaimer: This tax alert is designed only to provide general information regarding its subject matter and should not be construed as tax, accounting, or legal advice to any specific person or entity. The statutes, authority, or other law discussed or cited in the alert are subject to change and Whitley Penn assumes no obligation to update the reader of any changes. Any advice or opinion regarding the application of the subject matter for a specific person or entity should be provided by a competent professional tax advisor based on the application of the appropriate law and authority to the facts and circumstances applicable to that person or entity.