Well, for us in Louisiana, another year – and another hurricane! A Category 2 Hurricane when she made landfall on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, Francine has left a lot of damage in her wake.

On Friday, September 13, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced the measures it will implement in order to provide some tax filing relief to those who’ve been impacted across the entirety of Louisiana – and the IRS will assume that includes every resident and business in the state.

Tax Filings and Payments

Principally, the IRS will postpone filing and payment deadlines for Louisianians which would have been effective from September 10, 2024, through the end of the year until February 3, 2025.

This will include postponements for:

• The filing of business and individual tax returns for 2023, for those who have filed valid extensions. This particular relief item has no applicability to the payment of federal income tax liabilities pertaining to 2023, as such payments were due at the time of the filing of the extensions, prior to Francine’s landfall on September 10, 2024.
• The filing and payment of quarterly estimated income tax payments which would have been due on September 16, 2024 and January 15, 2025.
• The filing of payroll and excise tax returns which would have been due on October 31, 2024 and January 31, 2025. Penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax payments due during the period September 10, 2024 through September 24, 2024 will be waived if payment is made by September 25, 2024.

These reliefs will be applied automatically for every individual and business with an address of record in Louisiana on file with the IRS. No action on the part of residents or businesses will be required.

The IRS will also work with individuals and businesses who have recently relocated their residence and/or business to Louisiana from an area unaffected by Francine. If this is true of your household or business, you may receive a late filing or penalty notice, but any penalty and/or interest will be abated if you take the proper actions with the IRS.

Some taxpayers living outside Louisiana may still qualify for tax relief. Some who will be eligible are those who work assisting relief activities within Louisiana, if they are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.

Uninsured or Unreimbursed Disaster-Related Losses

Individuals and businesses located in Louisiana who suffer disaster-related losses which are either uninsured against or are unreimbursed have the option of claiming these losses on either their 2023 or 2024 federal tax returns.

There is a six-month window to choose which year’s tax return will claim such losses following the due date of the income tax return for the disaster year (2024), without consideration of any extensions filed. This means that businesses have until September 15, 2025, and individuals until October 15, 2025, to make their choices. Please be sure to write the applicable Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) declaration number, 3614-EM, on any return claiming such losses.

We Louisianians have been here before, and will likely see more disasters, if we’re lucky enough to stick around for them. And Rigby Financial Group has assisted businesses and individuals deal with the fallout from such disasters for many, many years – we know all the drills.

We invite you to consult with us – having expert assistance – from those with decades of experience in dealing with disasters for our clients (and for ourselves, too – we’re not immune by any stretch of the imagination!) can bring assurance and comfort to uncertainty.

Please click here to let us know how we can help you.

Until next time –

Peace,

Eric