Owner-operators and other 2023 tax filers who've been granted extensions to the typical April filing deadline by the Internal Revenue Service could be eligible for further relief in the wake of devastating hurricanes in the Southeast.
Overdrive Partners in Business coproducer and owner-operator business service firm ATBS shared this alert with its clients, illustrating the extent of possible relief. The IRS notes that individual and business filers in the "entire states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and parts of Tennessee and Virginia" all qualify, if they "received extensions to file their 2023 returns."
The new filing deadline for those taxpayers who've received extensions is May 1, 2025.
ATBS added some detail, noting the following in their guidance:
Tax-year 2023 tax payments are not eligible for this extension. In addition, May 1 is also the deadline for filing 2024 returns and paying any tax due.
This extension does not apply to any taxpayer who did not file a valid extension by April 15th, 2024. Any tax that was due for the 2023 tax year is already late if it remains unpaid, and the IRS is not granting penalty relief for unpaid tax from last year related to the natural disaster.
For those who received relief related to Tropical Storm Debby, but not related to Hurricane Helene, the deadline to file your 2023 return is only extended to February 3, 2025.
ATBS clients were advised that rules around relief for filers are "very specific," and questions could be answered with a check of the IRS' disaster-relief notice at this link, or by calling the agency's Disaster Relief Hotline at 866-562-5227.
ATBS itself is committed to being a resource, too, the firm noted. "We are here to support our clients, their families, our partners, and friends affected by these horrific storms." ATBS' website is here.
[Related: IRS boosting truckers' per-diem deduction rate for 2025]
Find more information on the ins and out of tax filing and management in Chapter 8 of the 2024 updated Overdrive/ATBS-coproduced "Partners in Business" book for new and established owner-operators, a comprehensive guide to running a small trucking business sponsored for the year by the Rush Truck Centers dealer network. Click here to download the most recent edition of Partners in Business free of charge.
