Added Relief an Option for Ark. Residents

Various forms of disaster tax relief may be available to Arkansas residents who suffered losses in the severe storms and tornadoes of Feb 5, according to state and federal recovery officials. Residents and businesses in Baxter, Conway, Izard, Marion, Pope, Randolph, Sharp, Stone, Union or Van Buren counties who have unreimbursed losses attributable to last month's storms and tornadoes can elect to deduct those losses on their tax returns for 2007 rather than wait to deduct the losses on their 2008 returns. Available to help them through the process of deducting their storm-related losses are Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Publication 2194, Disaster Loss Kit for individuals, and Publication 2194-B, Disaster Loss Kit for businesses. If the taxpayer's 2007 federal income tax return has already been filed, a copy of that return will be helpful, and perhaps necessary. If such a copy is unavailable, a copy can be obtained from the IRS by calling the IRS Disaster Assistance Hotline -1-866-562-5227 (Monday - Friday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CST). Calling this number also will result in expedited assistance specifically for taxpayers impacted by disaster. An additional form of tax relief provided by IRS aids mainly employers and businesses taxpayers. While April 15 remains the deadline for filing annual income tax returns for most taxpayers, April 7 is the new deadline for employers and businesses and taxpayers in the declared counties who have requirements to file returns, pay taxes or perform other time-sensitive acts between Feb. 5 and April 7. This extension of deadlines, however, does not apply to failure to deposit penalties for employment and excise deposits that must have been made by Feb 20. For more information see http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=179117,00.html.