With Hurricane Michael barreling down on us, I was wondering when IRS would announce their official special delayed filing due date for 2017 income tax returns, as had been their customary policy during other large destructive weather events.  I was checking their news page every few hours for the past week.

The hurricane was declared a Federal Disaster by Trump, one of IRS’s main criteria for allowing more time for those affected by a humongous natural catastrophe to get their tax returns in.  I knew they would eventually get around to issuing an official news release regarding this event.  However, considering that the extended 2017 1040s are due in the mail in three days from now, by Monday, October 15, today’s news release was just in time for those of us who were affected by Michael. Now, people can focus on the clean-up tasks rather than stressing to meet the Oct 15 filing deadline.

IRS’s news release from today:
IRS extends Oct. 15 and other upcoming deadlines, provides expanded tax relief for victims of Hurricane Michael

The money quote from this news release:

“individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2017 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2018, will now have until Feb. 28, 2019, to file.”