New Law Expands Tax Deadline Relief for State-Declared Disasters
On July 24, 2025, President Trump signed The Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act (Public Law 119-29), which provides an additional way for federal tax deadlines to be postponed.
This legislation allows for a state governor to request that the IRS postpone certain tax deadlines even if a federal disaster was not declared. (The One Big Beautiful Bill Act introduced the concept of state declared disasters when it was signed on July 4, 2025.)
The key provisions of The Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act are:
- The governor of all U.S. states and territories can request that the Secretary of Treasury postpone federal tax deadlines due to a qualified state disaster.
- A qualified state disaster is defined as any natural catastrophe (including any hurricane, tornado, storm, high water, wind driven water, tidal wave, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, mudslide, snowstorm or drought) that causes severe damage, warranting a postponement of federal tax deadlines.
- There is a mandatory extension of 120 days, replacing the automatic 60 days.
This new law could provide critical filing relief if you or your business are located in a disaster-prone area. If your state’s governor declares an emergency and requests relief from the Secretary of Treasury, the expanded postponement can provide more time to prepare for a storm or evacuate, if necessary.
The broader relief means that you do not have to wait on FEMA to declare a federal emergency, which sometimes can take weeks after a disaster has occurred. The IRS typically grants filing relief greater than the mandatory 120 days, so it’s important to follow the IRS’s updates that provide specific postponement dates.
Keep in mind that states do not always follow the federal postponement of deadlines, so be sure to follow your state’s tax authority updates.
To learn more about how this new law may impact you, contact your Warren Averett advisor directly, or ask a member of our team to reach out to you.
