Late last week, a devastating natural disaster, Hurricane Ian stormed its way up the coast of West Florida devastating almost everything in its path. The category 4 hurricane brought heavy rain and 150+ MPH winds, flooding the streets and homes of the state. Amid this weather crisis, the state has decided to enact a gas tax holiday which began on Saturday, and the IRS extended multiple tax deadlines to provide relief for residents of the state.
IRS Announces Extensions
On Thursday, the IRS announced the extension of various federal individual and business tax returns and payments. Additionally, the Internal Revenue Agency specified that they will be offering relief to any area that is designated by the FEMA. The current list of eligible localities can be found on the disaster relief page of the IRS website.
IRS Announces Extensions
On Thursday, the IRS announced the extension of various federal individual and business tax returns and payments. Additionally, the Internal Revenue Agency specified that they will be offering relief to any area that is designated by the FEMA. The current list of eligible localities can be found on the disaster relief page of the IRS website.
The deadline dates that have been pushed back are for tax return filing and tax payments on the October 17th extended 2021 personal income tax returns. However, the April 18th deadline for 2021 returns will not be eligible for this relief. This February 15th deadline also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments due on January 17th and the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on October 31st.
The relief applies to businesses as well as individuals, as any business with an original extended due date will now have the additional time including calendar-year corporations whose 2021 extensions run out on October 17th. Tax-exempt organizations have extra time for the 2021 calendar year returns with extensions originally due to run out on November 15th.
DeSantis Announces Gas Tax Holiday
Saturday marked the beginning of a month-long gas tax holiday for Florida residents, just in time following hurricane Ian. State lawmakers and Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis set aside $200 million in federal dollars in preparation for the holiday, which will reduce the tax rates on gas by 25.3 cents per gallon. “This will be a little bit of a respite and a little money saved on the gas tax,” said Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Economic Forecasting. As it stands, Florida pays on average, $3.39 per gallon for gas, which is significantly lower than the $4.89 per gallon average price tag earlier in the year.
Wrap Up
At least there is a silver lining amid this disaster in the form of tax relief and reduced gas prices, however, it does come from an unfortunate circumstance. We hope everyone in the disaster area has managed to stay safe through these times. If you need assistance wondering whether you qualify for any of this relief, contact a trusted financial advisor.