The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced significant tax relief measures for individuals and businesses in southern California affected by the wildfires and straight-line winds that began on January 7, 2025. Taxpayers in federally designated disaster areas, currently including Los Angeles County, will have until October 15, 2025, to meet various federal tax filing and payment deadlines.
Relief for Affected Taxpayers
The tax relief applies to individuals and businesses with filing and payment deadlines originally falling between January 7 and October 15, 2025. The extended deadline covers:
- Individual income tax returns and payments typically due on April 15, 2025.
- Contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts for 2024.
- Quarterly estimated tax payments normally due on January 15, April 15, June 16, and September 15, 2025.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns due on January 31, April 30, and July 31, 2025.
- Calendar-year partnership and S corporation returns due on March 17, 2025.
- Calendar-year corporation and fiduciary returns due on April 15, 2025.
- Tax-exempt organization returns due on May 15, 2025.
Penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due between January 7 and January 22, 2025, will be abated, provided the deposits are made by January 22.
The IRS will automatically apply filing and penalty relief to taxpayers with addresses on record in the disaster area. Affected individuals do not need to contact the IRS to receive this benefit.
For taxpayers outside the disaster area but whose records are located within it, the IRS offers relief upon request. These individuals or businesses should contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. Workers aiding in relief efforts and affiliated with recognized organizations may also qualify for relief.
Taxpayers who experienced uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses have the option to claim those losses on either their 2025 tax return (filed next year) or their 2024 tax return. For individual taxpayers, the extended deadline to make this election is October 15, 2026. Filers must include the FEMA declaration number, 4856-DR, on their returns.
Qualified disaster relief payments, including those for personal, family, or housing expenses, are excluded from gross income. Additional relief is available for taxpayers participating in retirement plans, such as special disaster distributions exempt from the 10% early distribution tax and options to spread income over three years.
The IRS has indicated that further disaster relief may be announced as the situation develops. A complete list of eligible localities and additional information can be found on the IRS’s Tax Relief in Disaster Situations page.
Taxpayers who receive late filing or payment penalty notices for eligible periods should contact the number on the notice to have penalties abated. For more details on disaster-related tax relief, refer to Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts, and Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income.
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