More Tax Deadline Extensions for Hurricane Sandy Victims
By Jeffery Levine, IRA Technical Expert
Follow Me on Twitter: @IRAGuru4EdSlott
Even though Hurricane Sandy occurred in late October 2012, its effects are still being felt. The IRS issued several news releases describing the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims affected by Hurricane Sandy. These postponements also apply to IRA and other retirement plan deadlines. The relief applies to many counties in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.
The IRS can extend certain tax-related deadlines for taxpayers affected by a federally declared disaster area. Affected taxpayers not only include individuals living in the disaster area but also people or businesses not located in the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a tax deadline are located there. The relief also applies to relief workers helping out afterwards.
The postponement affects deadlines for things such as the 60-day rollover period, IRA contributions, recharacterizations, SEP contributions, and the correction of excess contributions. Deadlines that fall on or after October 27, 2012 (October 26 for New Jersey counties), and on or before February 1, 2013, were postponed to February 1, 2013.
The IRS oftentimes updates the disaster-related news releases to add more counties to the relief. For example, on February 4, 2013, the IRS issued another new release (IR-2013-16) describing deadline postponement for certain time-sensitive tax-related acts for New York and New Jersey victims.
The new postponements, which apply to IRA and employer retirement plan deadlines, apply to Nassau, Queens, Richmond, and Suffolk counties in New York and Monmouth and Ocean counties in New Jersey. Deadlines that fell on or after October 26, 2012, for New Jersey counties and October 27, 2012 for New York counties and on or before February 1, 2013 are extended to April 1, 2013. Affected taxpayers who reside, or have a business located outside the covered disaster areas are required to call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request tax-related relief. The IRS news releases are available on the IRS website (www.irs.gov).