MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Internal Revenue Service is providing tax relief for southeast Wisconsin residents impacted by severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, and mudslides that began on August 9, 2025.
Those who live or have a business in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Washington counties qualify for tax relief.
This comes after a disaster declaration was issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The IRS says those affected will have until February 2 to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.
The Feb. 2, 2026, filing deadline applies to:
- Any individual, business or tax-exempt organization that has a valid extension to file their 2024 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2025.
- Quarterly estimated income tax payments normally due on Sept. 15, 2025, and Jan. 15, 2026
- Quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31, 2025, and Jan. 31, 2026.
- Calendar-year partnerships and S corporations whose 2024 extensions run out on Sept. 15, 2025.
- Calendar-year corporations whose 2024 extensions run out on Oct. 15, 2025.
- Calendar-year tax exempt organizations whose extensions run out on Nov. 17, 2025.
The IRS notes, however, payments for returns on a filing extension are not eligible for additional time to pay as filing extensions only apply to the filing of the return and not to payments.
If an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original filing, payment or deposit due date that falls within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the telephone number on the notice to have the IRS abate the penalty.
The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and applies filing and payment relief. Affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area should call the IRS Special Services toll-free number at 866-562-5227 to request this tax relief. Tax practitioners in the covered disaster area, who maintain records necessary to meet a filing or payment deadline for taxpayers located outside the disaster area, may contact the IRS Special Services; if the practitioner maintains the necessary records of ten or more clients, please refer to Bulk requests from practitioners for disaster relief for additional guidance.
Covered disaster area
The localities listed above constitutes a covered disaster area for purposes of Treas. Reg. §301.7508A-1(d)(2) and are entitled to the relief detailed below.
Affected taxpayers
Taxpayers considered to be affected taxpayers eligible for the postponement of time to file returns, pay taxes and perform other time-sensitive acts are those taxpayers listed in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(d)(1), and include individuals who live, and businesses (including tax-exempt organizations) whose principal place of business is located, in the covered disaster area. Taxpayers not in the covered disaster area, but whose records necessary to meet a deadline listed in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(c) are in the covered disaster area, are also entitled to relief. In addition, all relief workers affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization assisting in the relief activities in the covered disaster area and any individual visiting the covered disaster area who was killed or injured as a result of the disaster are entitled to relief.
Under section 7508A, the IRS gives affected taxpayers until Feb. 2, 2026, to file most tax returns (including individual, corporate, and estate and trust income tax returns; partnership returns, S corporation returns, and trust returns; estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax returns; annual information returns of tax-exempt organizations; and employment and certain excise tax returns), that have either an original or extended due date occurring on or after Aug. 9, 2025, and before Feb. 2, 2026.
Estimated income tax payments originally due on or after Aug. 9, 2025, are postponed through Feb. 2, 2026, and affected taxpayers will not be subject to penalties for failure to pay estimated tax installments as long as such payments are paid on or before Feb. 2, 2026.
The IRS also gives affected taxpayers until Feb. 2, 2026, to perform other time-sensitive actions described in Treas. Reg. § 301.7508A-1(c)(1) and Rev. Proc. 2018-58, 2018-50 IRB 990 (Dec. 10, 2018), that are due to be performed on or after Aug. 9, 2025, and before Feb. 2, 2026.
Under the relief, Form 5500 series returns that were required to be filed on or after Aug. 9, 2025, and before Feb. 2, 2026, are postponed through Feb. 2, 2026, in the manner described in section 8 of Rev. Proc. 2018-58. The relief described in section 17 of Rev. Proc. 2018-58, pertaining to like-kind exchanges of property, also applies to certain taxpayers who are not otherwise affected taxpayers and may include acts required to be performed before or after the period above.
Unless an act is specifically listed in Rev. Proc. 2018-58, the postponement of time to file and pay does not apply to information returns in the W-2, 1094, 1095, 1097, 1098 or 1099 series; to Forms 1042-S, 3921, 3922 or 8027; or to employment and excise tax deposits. However, penalties on deposits due on or after Aug. 9, 2025, and before Aug. 25, 2025, will be abated as long as the tax deposits were made by Aug. 25, 2025.
Casualty losses
Affected taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred, or the prior year. In this instance, the 2025 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (the 2024 return filed this year). Taxpayers have extra time – up to six months after the due date of the taxpayer’s federal income tax return for the disaster year (without regard to any extension of time to file) – to make the election. For individual taxpayers, this means Oct. 15, 2026. See Publication 547 for details. Individuals may deduct personal property losses that are not covered by insurance or other reimbursements. For details, see Form 4684, Casualties and Thefts and its instructions. Affected taxpayers claiming the disaster loss on their return should put FEMA disaster declaration number, 4892-DR on any return. See Publication 547 for details.
Payment agreements
For taxpayers in an installment agreement or payment plan, reminder notices will continue to be issued, and direct debits will continue. Missed payments will not cause an agreement to default during the postponement period.
This means that an agreement will remain in effect, even if no installment agreement payments are made until Feb. 2, 2026. However, the usual interest and late-payment penalty charges will continue to accrue during this period.
Taxpayers who wish to suspend direct debit payments should contact the IRS Special Services toll-free number at 866-562-5227 or their bank for assistance.
Other relief
The IRS will waive the usual fees for requests for copies of previously filed tax returns for affected taxpayers. Taxpayers should put the assigned FEMA declaration number (4892-DR), in bold letters at the top of Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return, or Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return, as appropriate, and submit it to the IRS.
Qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income. This means that affected taxpayers can exclude from their gross income amounts received from a government agency for reasonable and necessary personal, family, living or funeral expenses, as well as for the repair or rehabilitation of their home, or for the repair or replacement of its contents. You can exclude this amount only to the extent any expense it pays for isn’t paid for by insurance or otherwise. See Publication 525 for details.
Additional relief may be available to affected taxpayers who participate in a retirement plan or individual retirement arrangement (IRA). For example, a taxpayer may be eligible to take a special disaster distribution that would not be subject to the additional 10% early distribution tax and that the taxpayer may take into income over three years. See Form 8915-F, Qualified Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments and Disaster relief frequently asked questions: Retirement plans and IRAs under the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. Taxpayers may also be eligible to make a hardship withdrawal. Each plan or IRA has specific rules and guidance for their participants to follow.
For anyone affected by a natural disaster, the government may further extend the due date for filing the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). Be sure to review relevant FBAR relief notices for complete information.
The IRS may provide additional disaster relief in the future.
Taxpayers who do not qualify for disaster tax relief may qualify for reasonable cause penalty abatement. See Penalty relief for reasonable cause for additional information.
Affected taxpayers who are contacted by the IRS on a collection or examination matter should explain how the disaster impacts them so that the IRS can provide appropriate consideration to their case. Taxpayers may download forms and publications from the official IRS website, IRS.gov.
Reminder about tax return preparation options
- Eligible individuals or families can get free help preparing their tax return at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) or Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) sites. To find the closest free tax help site, use the VITA Locator Tool or call 800-906-9887. Note that normally, VITA sites cannot help claim disaster losses.
- To find an AARP Tax-Aide site, use the AARP Site Locator Tool or call 888-227-7669.
- Any individual or family whose adjusted gross income (AGI) was $84,000 or less in 2024 can use IRS Free File’s Guided Tax Software at no cost. There are products in English and Spanish.
- Another Free File option is Free File Fillable Forms. These are electronic federal tax forms, equivalent to a paper 1040 and are designed for taxpayers who are comfortable filling out IRS tax forms. Anyone, regardless of income, can use this option.
- MilTax, a Department of Defense program, offers free return preparation software and electronic filing for federal tax returns and up to three state income tax returns. It’s available for all military members and some veterans, with no income limit.
For additional information, please see the FAQs for disaster victims | Internal Revenue Service.
