Hurricane Florence Delays South Carolina Tax Deadlines
Tuesday, September 18th, 2018
Editor's note: The IRS will continue to enforce its existing filing and payment deadlines in South Carolina until FEMA adds individual assistance to the disaster declaration for the state. If post-storm flooding results in FEMA adding individual assistance to its South Carolina declaration, then the counties cleared for individual assistance will also receive IRS deadline extensions.
Some small business owners and self-employed persons who make periodic tax payments are getting a reprieve due to the impacts of Hurricane Florence.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced a major disaster declaration for parts of North and South Carolina due to the storm. The Internal Revenue Service announced that taxpayers in certain counties in those states will have the deadline for some filings and payments extended to Jan. 31, 2019.
In its original announcement on Sept. 15, which at the time only covered eight North Carolina counties, the IRS stated the deadline extension included quarterly estimated income tax payments due Sept. 17 and quarterly payroll and excise tax returns due Oct. 31.
“Businesses with extensions also have the additional time including, among others, calendar-year partnerships whose 2017 extensions run out on Sept. 17, 2018,” the IRS stated in its announcement. “Taxpayers who had a valid extension to file their 2017 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2018 will also have more time to file. In addition, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Sept. 7, 2018, and before Sept. 24, 2018, will be abated as long as the deposits are made by Sept. 24, 2018.”
The IRS also stated that “taxpayers in localities added later to the disaster area, including those in other states, will automatically receive the same filing and payment relief.” Since that time, 10 additional North Carolina counties have been added to the list, as well as the following counties in South Carolina:
Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Orangeburg and Williamsburg.
More counties could be added later. Taxpayers automatically qualify for the extension if their address on record with the IRS falls within the disaster area.
Quarterly estimated tax payments are normally due Sept. 15, but since that date fell on a Saturday this year, the deadline had previously been moved to Sept. 17.
The IRS also pointed out that personal casualty losses attributable to the disaster may be claimed as a qualified disaster loss.
South Carolina CEO reached out to the S.C. Department of Revenue to find out if it would follow suit and extend its deadlines. A spokeswoman said that details were being finalized and the agency hoped to have a plan in place by today. Stay tuned for updates.