Tax deadline extended to October for winter storm victims in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KION-TV)- The Internal Revenue Service has extended the tax deadline until Oct. 16 for Californians who were affected by the winter storms.

The new deadline replaces an earlier storm-related extension which was set for May 15.

This applies to California counties that were designated for Federal Emergency Management Agency, (FEMA) disaster assistance which includes Santa Cruz County.

Residents and businesses in Santa Cruz County would be able to qualify for the federal-level delay even if they were not impacted by weather and flooding.

The IRS will be able to automatically identify taxpayers who live in storm affected counties who are eligible for the federal deadline extension.

Taxpayers will be able to file disaster-related casualty losses on their federal taxes. They can do it for the event that the year took place or the prior year.

IRS officials said that taxpayers who are claiming disaster loss on their return should put the Disaster Designation, "California severe winter storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides." You will need to put that at the top of form.

Taxpayers will also have to include the FEMA disaster declaration number, FEMA-4683-DR on any return.

If you have any questions on whether you qualify for the tax relief, you are asked to call the IRS hotline at 866-562-5227.