Legislative Update: Your guide to IRS, DOR and FinCEN filing relief post-Hurricane Milton

 By FICPA Governmental Affairs

The state of Florida has weathered Hurricanes Milton, Helene and Debby in recent weeks, prompting multiple filing extensions from federal and state agencies. 

The FICPA has been in regular contact with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) and U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) throughout hurricane season, advocating on behalf of our members and their clients.

Given the short time in which we've encountered this series of severe storms, we understand the concern amongst our membership with respect to new effective dates.

We have communicated individual extension updates across multiple Advocacy Alerts, but this week's Legislative Update is your centralized hub for the most up-to-date information on IRS, DOR and FinCEN filing news.

Internal Service Revenue

The IRS on Oct. 11 announced: "Combined with earlier tax relief provided for taxpayers in counties affected by Hurricane Debby and Hurricane Helene, affected taxpayers in all of Florida now have until May 1, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, including 2024 individual and business returns normally due during March and April 2025 and 2023 individual and corporate returns with valid extensions and quarterly estimated tax payments."

It is important to note that 61 counties are covered under this relief beginning Aug. 1, 2024. They are Alachua, Bay, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. John's, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Wakulla, Walton, and Washington counties. 

The IRS further announced that Florida's six remaining counties "that previously did not qualify for relief under either Hurricane Debby or Hurricane Helene will receive disaster tax relief beginning Oct. 5, 2024, and concluding on May 1, 2025." They are Broward, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties.

We have created this map for your convenience.

Per the IRS, the May 1, 2025, deadline applies to:

• Any individual or business that has a 2024 return normally due during March or April 2025.
• Any individual, C corporation or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their calendar-year 2023 federal return. The IRS noted, however, that payments on these returns are not eligible for the extra time because they were due last spring before the hurricane occurred.
• 2024 quarterly estimated tax payments normally due on Jan. 15, 2025, and 2025 estimated tax payments normally due on April 15, 2025.
• Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2024, Jan. 31, 2025, and April 30, 2025.

In addition, for localities affected by Hurricane Milton, penalties for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Oct. 5, 2024, and before Oct. 21, 2024, will be abated, as long as the deposits are made by Oct. 21, 2024. Localities eligible for this relief are: Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Glades, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Nassau, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putman, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Volusia counties.

Department of Revenue

DOR on Tuesday, Oct. 15, announced that it will follow the tax relief granted by the IRS for affected taxpayers regarding the postponement of Florida corporate income/franchise tax return due dates.

All Florida counties are now under an extension to May 16, 2025, but please note the specific county lists and effectives dates from DOR below. We have created this map for your convenience.

Per the Department:

Taxpayers in the following counties with original due dates or extended due dates falling on or after May 10, 2024, and before May 16, 2025, will now have a due date of May 16, 2025:

Taxpayers in the following counties with original due dates or extended due dates falling on or after August 1, 2024, and before May 16, 2025, will now have a due date of May 16, 2025:

Taxpayers in the following counties with original due dates or extended due dates falling on or after October 5, 2024, and before May 16, 2025, will now have a due date of May 16, 2025:

Following Hurricane Helene, DOR on Oct. 2 issued Emergency Order #24-002, which "extends September 2024 and October 2024 reporting periods for sales and use tax, reemployment tax, and several other tax types to November 22, 2024, for the 17 counties in Florida where Hurricane Helene made landfall: Charlotte, Citrus, Dixie, Franklin, Hernando, Hillsborough, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lee, Levy, Madison, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Taylor, and Wakulla."

And on Thursday, Oct. 17, DOR issued a follow-up, Emergency Order #24-003, which expands the order above to include seven additional counties: Collier, Glades, Highlands, Indian River, Orange, Polk, and St. Lucie.

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Following the Oct. 11 announcement from the IRS, FinCEN announced that victims of Hurricane Milton now have until May 1, 2025, to file Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs) for the 2023 calendar year. 

This FinCEN announcement, coupled with relief already extended from previous storms, means that all of Florida is now covered under the May 1 deadline as it relates to FBAR filing. 

FBAR filings for calendar year 2023 were otherwise due on or before Oct. 15, 2024.

We're here to help

We have been working with both the IRS and disaster-relief expert Jerry Schreiber, helping to address individual member questions. We encourage you to closely read the full IRS, DOR and FinCEN announcements linked and cited above and to visit the IRS' "Tax Relief in Disaster Situations" feed for more information. As always, please contact govaffairs@ficpa.org with any outstanding concerns.

Our next Webinar with Jerry Schreiber

Speaking of Jerry, we invite you to join us this coming Wednesday, Oct. 23, for a free two-hour Webinar. This "2024 Hurricane Disaster Tax Matters" session is worth two hours of CPE. Sign up today to learn more about filing deadlines, casualty losses and practice management.

You can also watch a replay of Jerry's last webinar from Oct. 3, following Hurricane Helene, right here.

Our post-election Town Hall

The general election is Nov. 5 and early voting in some Florida counties will begin next week. All counties will be open for early voting from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3. For information on your county’s voting dates and locations visit your local supervisor of elections office or website.  

In the final weeks of the election, many political campaigns are ramping up their messaging, knocking on those final doors, and trying to get out their voters. With so much going on around the state and the nation this election cycle, it can be hard to keep up with the changing political landscape. However, the team at FICPA Governmental Affairs has your back. 

Join the team on Nov. 12 for a post-election Town Hall breaking down all of the things you need to know following the 2024 General Election.