An inflatable advertising sign for a tax preparer's office in Chicago, Ill.
It’s almost Tax Day in the United States, but several states have automatic deadline extensions in place due to natural disasters in 2024 and 2025.
The Internal Revenue Service started accepting tax returns on Jan. 27 and millions of taxpayers have already filed their taxes. While taxpayers have until April 15, 2025, to file their 2024 tax returns and make any tax payments, automatic extensions have been applied to areas across more than nine states, starting May 1, 2025.
Among the qualifying states is Florida, who was hit by both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton within a matter of weeks between September and October 2024. North Carolina was also included in the deadlines after Hurricane Helene, which led to at least 215 known deaths, with more than half of the deaths in North Carolina.
Here’s a list of the states that were affected by an extended tax deadline and how long the extension has been granted.
What states have a May 1 tax deadline?
According to the IRS, an automatic May 1, 2025, deadline for 2024 tax returns is applicable to taxpayers from nine states who were affected by FEMA disaster declarations from 2024.
This includes taxpayers from the entire states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The extended deadline for the remaining four states applied only to specific areas, including the city and borough of Juneau in Alaska. The other affected areas are Chaves County in New Mexico as well as several counties in Tennessee and Virginia.
The full list of areas qualified for the May 1, 2025, deadline is available on the IRS website.
Why was the April 15 deadline pushed back?
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and several counties in Tennessee and Virginia had their tax deadlines extended to May 1, 2025, due to devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, according to the IRS.
It was announced by the IRS in October 2024 that individuals and businesses from the Juneau area in Alaska would have until May 1, 2025, to file their taxes due to flooding that began in August 2024.
Extended deadlines were announced for New Mexico in November 2024 by the IRS due to severe storms and flooding in October 2024 that affected individuals and businesses in Chaves County.
What other states have an extended tax deadline?
In addition to the nine states who had automatic deadline extensions, other states have later deadlines for individuals and businesses to file their 2024 tax returns and pay any taxes that are due.
For taxpayers in Los Angeles County in California, the deadline has been extended to Oct. 15, 2025, due to the wildfires in January, per the IRS. The deadly fires were contained after more than three weeks, causing at least 29 deaths and destroying tens of thousands of acres of land and thousands of structures.
Additionally, taxpayers in all of Kentucky as well as several counties in West Virginia have had their deadline extended to Nov. 3, 2025, due to severe storms in February. According to the IRS, these storms included straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides.
