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Hurricane Ian Resources/Information

Post Hurricane Resources/Information

 

Below are a number of various resources for those who may have been impacted by the storm:

 

Red Cross – Post Hurricane Safety

  • Find Open Shelters
  • One can contact the Red Cross Disaster Distress Helpline for free if you need to talk to someone at 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs’ to 66746.

 

 

 

Tips to filing a homeowners’ insurance claim:

  • Make a home inventory. Use your smartphone to take photos or videos of your belongings, including furniture, appliances, clothes, jewelry, and art. Save your inventory in a location you can easily retrieve it, such as the cloud, or email a copy to yourself. Many insurers also offer specialized apps to help policyholders create their own home inventory.
  • Gather copies of your insurance policies. Keep copies of your insurance policies (home, flood, and auto) in a safe, dry, and accessible location.
  • Save your insurer’s contact information. Save your insurer’s toll-free claims number to your phone’s contacts so you can easily start the claims process if your home is damaged or destroyed in a storm.

 

Small Business Help

 

The disaster declaration came out from the Small Business Administration and separates applicants into eligibility for various low interest loan products by county. There are two different disaster declarations that are in effect now: one has to do with businesses in the most directly impacted areas, and makes a broad array of loan products available for physical damage both business and personal as well as economic impact and the other has just economic impact disaster loans available to business owners in contiguous counties that were less directly impacted.

 

Each region in Florida has a local SBDC based in a university that has business consultants available to assist business owners with accessing low interest federal disaster loans and state of Florida DEO Emergency Bridge Loans once they become available in times of declared disasters to address financial hardship caused by Hurricane Ian. Reach out to them and they can walk you through what may be available to you at no cost to the business.

 

Find your local SBDC: https://floridasbdc.org/locations/  More info on the declaration from the SBA–look up your region to see what loans you may be eligible for in your geographic area

https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ela/s/

 

For additional resources and statewide emergency information, visit FloridaDisaster.org.

IRS: Hurricane Ian victims in Florida qualify for tax relief;
Oct. 17 deadline, other dates extended to Feb. 15

 

WASHINGTON — Hurricane Ian victims throughout Florida now have until Feb. 15, 2023, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This means that individuals and households that reside or have a business anywhere in the state of Florida qualify for tax relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.

 

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Sept. 23, 2022. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Feb. 15, 2023, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. This means individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2021 return due to run out on Oct. 17, 2022, will now have until Feb. 15, 2023, to file. The IRS noted, however, that because tax payments related to these 2021 returns were due on April 18, 2022, those payments are not eligible for this relief.

 

The Feb. 15, 2023, deadline also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments due on Jan. 17, 2023, and the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2022, and Jan. 31, 2023. Businesses with an original or extended due date also have the additional time including, among others, calendar-year corporations whose 2021 extensions run out on Oct. 17, 2022. Similarly, tax-exempt organizations also have the additional time, including for 2021 calendar-year returns with extensions due to run out on Nov. 15, 2022. In addition, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Sept. 23, 2022, and before Oct. 10, 2022, will be abated as long as the deposits are made by Oct. 10, 2022. The IRS disaster relief page has details on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time.

 

The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. Therefore, taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to get this relief. However, if an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date falling within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated. In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.

 

Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this instance, the 2022 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (2021). Be sure to write the FEMA declaration number – DR-4673-FL − on any return claiming a loss. See Publication 547 for details.

 

The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by Hurricane Ian and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, visit disasterassistance.gov.