The Internal Revenue Service has provided tax assistance for individuals and businesses in southern California harmed by the wildfires that started on January 7, 2025. Governor Gavin Newsom indicated that the California Franchise Tax Board will provide similar tax relief. According to the IRS notice, impacted taxpayers now have until October 15, 2025, to file various individual and corporate tax forms and make tax payments. The IRS benefit extends to any location designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thus individuals and households who live or work in Los Angeles County are eligible for tax relief. The assistance will be provided to any additional counties added to the disaster region, as indicated on IRS.gov’s Tax Assistance in Disaster Situations page.
Delayed Filing And Payment Deadlines
The tax relief postpones numerous tax filing and payment deadlines from January 7, 2025, to October 15, 2025 (postponement period). Individuals and corporations have until October 15, 202,5 to file returns and pay any taxes that were due during the period.
This means, for example, that the deadline of October 15, 2025 will now apply to:
- Individual income tax returns and payments are generally due on April 15, 2025.
- Eligible individuals can make contributions to IRAs and health savings accounts in 2024.
- Quarterly expected income tax payments for 2024 are due on January 15, 2025, with estimated tax payments due on April 15, June 16, and September 15, 2025.
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns are generally due on January 31, April 30, and July 31, 2025.
- Calendar-year partnership and S corporation returns are generally due on March 17, 2025.
- Calendar-year corporate and fiduciary returns and payments are typically due on April 15, 2025.
- Calendar-year tax-exempt organization filings are generally due on May 15, 2025.
In addition, fines for failing to make payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after January 7, 2025, but before January 22, 2025, will be waived if the deposits are made by January 22, 2025. The Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief for Individuals and Businesses website contains information on various returns, payments, and tax-related actions that are eligible for relief during the postponement period.
Who is Eligible?
The IRS immediately grants filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record in the disaster region. If an impacted taxpayer does not have an IRS address of record in the disaster region (for example, if they relocated to the disaster area after filing their return), they should call the number on the notice to waive the penalty.
The IRS will assist any taxpayer who lives outside the catastrophe area but whose records required to fulfil a deadline happening during the postponement period are in the affected area. Taxpayers who qualify for relief but live outside the disaster area should call the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes relief workers who are linked with a recognized government or charity organization.
Additional Tax Relief
Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses may claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this case, the 2025 return, which is typically filed the following year) or the return for the previous year (2024). Taxpayers have up to six months from the due date of their federal income tax return for the catastrophe year to make the election.
Qualified disaster assistance payments are typically excluded from gross income. In general, affected taxpayers can deduct from their gross income amounts received from a government agency for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living, or funeral expenses, as well as for the repair or rehabilitation of their home or its contents, as explained in IRS Publication 525.
