The IRS has announced the availability of an additional postponement of filing and payment requirements to businesses in the Gulf Coast. The filing extension comes as part of the continuing effort to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Agency has decided to postpone the filing and payment deadlines for certain businesses to October 16, 2006, after meeting with tax practitioners and IRS employees located in the disaster areas.
Taxpayers located in the designated disaster areas will be eligible for the postponement. Businesses in seven Louisiana parishes and three Mississippi counties will automatically qualify. Taxpayers in other locations can obtain filing and payment postponements by self-identifying themselves to the IRS.
According to the IRS, the postponement applies to tax payments, including estimated tax payments, due on or after August 29, 2005, but before October 16, 2006. The failure to deposit pentalty will also be waived for taxpayers who are unable to make their deposits during the aforementioned time period.
The filing and payment postponement will apply to individula, corporation, partnership, estate, trust, S Corporation, generation-skipping, employment and certain excise tax returns with original or extended due dates that fall on or after August 29, 2005 and before October 16, 2006.
While the agency said that it can postpone the time to file the 2004 and 2005 returns until October, the law will not authorize it to grant additional interest and failure to pay penalty relief for the 2004 tax year.