What Virginia filing and payment relief applied to Hurricane Irene victims with September 15, 2011 deadlines?

Plain-English summary

Virginia moved qualifying September 15, 2011 income- and withholding-tax deadlines to September 22, 2011 for taxpayers affected by Hurricane Irene. The seven-day relief covered taxpayers whose needed books, records, or tax preparer were located in damaged Virginia localities or otherwise unavailable because of severe hurricane damage.

Returns and payments made by September 22 avoided the interest and late-filing or late-payment penalties that otherwise would have applied.

The automatic relief did not cover sales tax or other Department-administered taxes with due dates after September 15. Taxpayers facing additional hardship could request further extensions or penalty waivers.

The Department also offered to minimize collection actions initiated from August 27 through September 15 when they would create recovery hardship, but warned that suspending collection did not stop interest on existing delinquent accounts.

What this means for you

• This bulletin applies only to 2011 Hurricane Irene relief.
• The automatic extension covered specified income- and withholding-tax obligations.
• Storm-caused unavailability of records or the preparer was the eligibility trigger.
• Collection forbearance did not stop interest on old delinquent balances.

Citations and references

• Virginia Tax Bulletin 11-9.

Subject

Filing and payment extension to certain individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Irene.

Source

• Landing page: Virginia Laws, Rules & Decisions
• Ruling: P.D. 11-156

Original ruling text

TAX BULLETIN 11-9

Virginia Department of Taxation

September 6, 2011

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING

THOSE AFFECTED BY HURRICANE IRENE

EXTENSION FOR VICTIMS OF HURRICANE IRENE

Tax Commissioner Craig M. Burns has announced that Virginia will provide a one week filing and payment extension to certain individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Irene.

This extension will apply to taxpayers located in the Commonwealth of Virginia who are unable to meet their filing obligations because the financial books and records they need to file their taxes, or their tax preparer, are located in cities and counties within the Commonwealth or are otherwise unavailable because of severe hurricane damage.

Individuals and businesses in these areas will automatically be allowed an additional seven days to file income and withholding tax returns and make tax payments that have a due date, or an extended due date, of September 15, 2011. Therefore, tax returns and payments that are due on September 15, 2011, will be allowed to be filed or paid on September 22, 2011. The Virginia Department of Taxation will abate interest and any late-filing or late-payment penalties that would otherwise apply.

The extension does not apply to returns or payments of sales tax or any other taxes administered by the Department of Taxation with a due date, or an extended due date after September 15, 2011.

Additional extensions or penalty waivers may be granted in hardship cases. Written requests should be emailed to [email protected] for personal tax inquiries and [email protected] for business tax inquiries, or directed to:

Virginia Department of Taxation

Customer Service Section

Hurricane Irene Relief Extension

P.O. Box 1115

Richmond, VA 23218-1115

The Department of Taxation will work with taxpayers in the affected areas to minimize the impact of any collection enforcement activities that may be initiated between August 27, 2011, and September 15, 2011. Taxpayers notified of pending actions should contact the Department at (804) 367-8045 to discuss relief from actions that will create additional hardship in their recovery from the effects of the storm damages. The suspension of enforcement actions, however, will not stop the accrual of interest on delinquent accounts.

Customers are welcome to utilize Live Chat on The Department of Taxation's website at http://www.tax.virginia.gov to discuss account-specific question. If customers prefer asking questions by telephone, then individual income tax filers should contact the Department at (804) 367-8031; business taxpayers should call (804) 367-8037 for assistance. Information is also available through the agency's website at http://www.tax.virginia.gov/ .