Hurricane Relief

[DocumentDiva]

I hope everyone is well.  I work for a TPA Firm, and our main office address is in Atlanta, GA and I'm in Florida and we have others in South Carolina.  The entire state of Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and South Carolina and parts of Florida were given tax relief for victims of Hurricane Helene under Hurricane Helene Notice IR-2024-253. I would assume our clients could file under the Hurricane Relief extending the due date until May 1, 2025, even if they are not in the states with full relief because we are practitioners in the areas that were impacted.  MOST of our client are in GA, FL, SC & NC. Now with Hurricane Milton I believe the entire state of Florida will now be given the same relief and not just certain counties in Florida impacted by Debby and Helene. Of course, we aren't advising this however, it's the reality that clients don't all have power or capacity to deal with 5500's at the moment.  I'm curious how other TPA firms in the impacted areas are handling this.  Thank you so much for your time and responses.   

[R. Scott]

Hi there. We are a TPA in CA, and we have just one client in Clearwater, FL. I haven't been able to reach them to sign their 5500, likely because they don't have power yet.

I read an article here on BL about the IRS Hurricane relief for federal returns that the IRS announced yesterday. It is true that most counties in FL are being granted Milton relief to May of 2025, but only int he following stated counties so far: Broward, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, Brevard, Clay, DeSoto, Duval, Flagler, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lake, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Putnam, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia.

It is my hope that they can sign and send back to me soon, but if they can’t then I think they will likely get an automatic notice from the IRS in a few weeks to months saying their 5500 was late / delinquent. In that event we will have to respond to that notice with an explanation of why they were without power and couldn’t sign on time; and hopefully the IRS is understanding.

That's how this California TPA is handling it.

Stay safe!

[Dare Johnson]

The IRS system is not suppose to send out notices if a taxpayer resides in a zip code with a disaster declaration.  I don't know if the DOLs system is setup this way.

[RatherBeGolfing]

As a Florida based practitioner, I have been through this many times. 

While then IRS is supposed make the determination based on zipcode, they still sent proposed penalties to many in the disaster area.  It has been hit or miss for years.  Sometimes the IRS love letters show up before the extended due date, some times they show up after you file.

You can send the IRS a flash drive with a list of clients affected by the disaster, but I have  found that this doesn't help much.

Things that work more often than not:

Put the FEMA disaster declaration in the "Special Extension"  description.  This will be disaster and state specific.  For example, DR-2848-FL is the Florida disaster declaration for Helene.  

Add an "other attachment" to your filing and attach he IRS disaster notice to your return.  You won't find this in the instructions or any of the communications, but I have been told by both IRS and DOL staff that this will reduce the chances of an agency follow up. 

If you are using YOUR location as a reason for the extension, use an "other attachment" to add the explanation that while the client was not in the disaster area, the practioner was, and that is why this client is entitled to the extension. 

I hope this helps. 

[SSRRS]

The extension applies now to ALL of Florida (all counties). See https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-announces-tax-relief-for-victims-of-milton-various-deadlines-postponed-to-may-1-2025-in-all-of-florida

[justanotheradmin]

you as the tax preparer would need to apply for relief if requesting an ext for your clients NOT in affected areas. See the information on Bulk Requests From Practitioners. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-relief-for-helene-various-deadlines-postponed-to-may-1-2025-part-or-all-of-7-states-qualify

to tack on my own question - large plan has an auditor in a affected area - audit is not ready - sponsor is NOT in affected area. Auditor says the plan should rely on the disaster relief, but is refusing to apply for relief as the preparer. They are saying since they don't prepare the Form 5500 they aren't the tax preparer. 

The sponsor is not having luck with the 1-866-562-5227number to request relief. Has anyone been successful with a similar situation or had a sponsor be able to get through to request relief? Any tips? 

[RatherBeGolfing]

2 hours ago, justanotheradmin said:

The sponsor is not having luck with the 1-866-562-5227number to request relief. Has anyone been successful with a similar situation or had a sponsor be able to get through to request relief? Any tips? 

Attach the information to the filing, if you still get a love letter from the IRS, follow up with a written response.