Hurricanes could impact millions of Americans' 2024 taxes
The government provides some relief for taxpayers impacted by hurricanes and other disasters
Florida homeowners face insurance crisis in the wake of Hurricane Milton
Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis joins Fox & Friends to discuss the states property insurance crisis as residents reel from Hurricane Milton.
The tens of millions of Americans that live in federal disaster areas are eligible for some relief from their taxes in the form of filing delays, and victims may be able to take a deduction from losses.
The Internal Revenue Service has automatically extended the filing deadline for taxpayers living in areas impacted by Hurricanes Helene and Milton to May 1, 2025, giving residents and businesses in those states and parts of states some extra time.
An aerial view of flood damage wrought by Hurricane Helene along the Swannanoa River on October 3, 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina. At least 200 people were killed in six states in the wake of the powerful hurricane which made landfall as a Categor (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images / Getty Images)
However, the extension is only for people in zip codes officially designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a federal disaster area.
For Helene, that includes the entire states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as several counties in Tennessee, Virginia and Florida.
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But the entire state of Florida has been designated a disaster area due to Milton, so every resident qualifies for that extension.
An aerial view shows a Sheriff's Department vehicle moving through flooded streets in Tampa, Florida, due to Hurricane Milton on October 10, 2024. (BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The Sunshine State also offers hurricane victims a rebate on their property taxes. Under the property tax relief Florida signed into law following Hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022, homeowners may receive a prorated refund on their property taxes if a residence was rendered uninhabitable for at least 30 days by either of the deadly hurricanes.
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Under federal law, victims that live in federally-designated disaster areas are also able to deduct losses that are not covered by insurance – but the details are complicated, as The Wall Street Journal points out.
Roys restaurant worker searches through the rubble at the demolished restaurant after Hurricane Helene landed in Steinhatchee, Florida, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Michael Shaff, an attorney at Foundation Law Group, emphasized to FOX Business that victims must live in a federally declared disaster area in order to claim a deduction on losses, and that individuals and businesses only have two years to do so.
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Shaff warned, "Whatever kind of recovery you get – whether it's from the government or from an insurance company – you have to keep an eye on how long you have to replace it, and what you can replace it with."