Tax Relief for Hurricane Sandy Victims

Ed Slott & Company

If you were affected by this disaster, the IRS wants to cut you a break.

Posted November 18, 2012

By Ed Slott & Company

Hurricane Sandy, also known as “Super-Storm Sandy,” did considerable damage in the Northeast part of the United States. As a result, 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 after the disaster.

The postponement affects deadlines for things such as the 60-day rollover period, IRA contributions, recharacterizations, SEP contributions, making employer plan loan payments, the correction of excess contributions, etc. Deadlines that fall on or after October 27, 2012 (October 26 for New Jersey counties), and on or before February 1, 2013, are postponed to February 1, 2013.

If you were affected but you live or have a business located outside the covered disaster areas, you must call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to get tax-related relief.

The IRS news releases are available on the IRS website. You should know that the IRS often updates disaster-related news releases, so you should consider rechecking the news releases to see if anything has changed. Detailed descriptions of the disaster areas and the relief are available on the IRS website.

Note: If you take an IRA distribution because of a storm related reason, the IRS relief does not excuse you from paying income taxes or early withdrawal penalties, if applicable, on your IRA withdrawal. 

Ed Slott and Company has been called "The Best" source for IRA advice by The Wall Street Journal, and "America's IRA Experts" by Mutual Funds Magazine. Ed is a widely recognized professional speaker and author. Get more IRA information from America's IRA Experts.