Texas Wildfire Victims to Potentially Qualify for Disaster Relief

New evidence suggests that victims of the wildfires that swept through Texas at the beginning of the month may qualify for IRS disaster tax relief. As the President has declared Bastrop County, Texas, where the fires began, a federal disaster area, its residents are likely to qualify for IRS tax relief.

Thus far, the Internal Revenue Service has postponed a number of tax deadlines that fall between August 30 and October 31. All deadlines have been postponed until October 31, 2011. As in the case of Hurricane Irene relief, this offer extends to businesses that may have already obtained a September 15 deadline extension to file their 2010 returns. The IRS has also announced plans to waive tax penalties for those who fail to deposit employment or excise taxes, so long as those unpaid tax amounts were paid by September 14, 2011.

Qualifying for Relief

Disaster tax relief is due to those taxpayers who live in Bastrop County, as well as any individuals whose principal place of business is located in the designated area. Relief is also available to any taxpayers who may not live in the declared disaster area, but whose records necessary to meet a particular IRS deadline are within the covered area.

In addition, IRS tax relief is open to any individuals associated with a relief organization, either government sponsored or philanthropic, that is working within the covered area to assist in recovery efforts, as well as those who may have been injured or killed while visiting the covered area.