Hurricane Isaias Tax Relief: Who Qualifies

Hurricane Isaias tax relief, IRS notice FL-2026-07, gives 27 Florida counties until Feb. 8, 2027 to file returns and pay taxes due on or after Oct. 6, 2026. It covers counties from Escambia in the west to Baker in the northeast and Citrus on the Gulf coast; no South Florida county is on the list. The Florida Department of Revenue has matched it with a Feb. 23, 2027 date for state corporate income tax.

The relief came in two pieces. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published FL-2026-07 on Oct. 14, 2026 and updated it on Oct. 22 to move the start date to Oct. 6, 2026. The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) issued its own memorandum on Oct. 14, 2026. Both were read on Nov. 4, 2026 for this article, and both are linked in the sources below.

Do I qualify for Hurricane Isaias tax relief?

You qualify if you live or have a business in one of the 27 counties named in FL-2026-07. The IRS describes that group as "individuals and households that reside or have a business in" those counties. If the storm affected you but your home or business is outside the counties, the release says to call the IRS Special Services line. Its number is printed on the FL-2026-07 page.

The relief moves dates; it does not reduce what is owed. Taxes that were due before Oct. 6, 2026 keep their original dates. Deadlines that fall on or after Feb. 8, 2027 are outside the window and keep their normal dates too.

The 27 counties the IRS named

The IRS list matches the 27 counties in FEMA emergency declaration 3655-EM. FEMA's own declarations database, read Nov. 4, 2026, dates that declaration Oct. 9, 2026 and sets the incident period at Oct. 6 to Oct. 12, 2026. That incident period is the reason the IRS moved the start of the relief back to Oct. 6 in its Oct. 22 update.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are not on the list.

What moves to Feb. 8, 2027 and what does not

Here is the schedule as the IRS release and the DOR memorandum state it. The federal rows come from FL-2026-07; the state row comes from the DOR memorandum of Oct. 14, 2026.

The extended 2025 individual return is the row people misread. The filing date moves to Feb. 8, 2027. The payment on that return was due April 15, 2026, before the storm, so the release says those payments are not eligible. An extension to file was never an extension to pay, and the relief does not change that.

Estimated tax payments that fall due on or after Oct. 6, 2026 are postponed to Feb. 8, 2027 under the release. The normal installment schedule is in our guide to quarterly estimated tax payments.

Payroll returns: Nov. 2 and Feb. 1 move, deposits did not

The release applies the Feb. 8, 2027 date to quarterly payroll and certain excise tax returns normally due Nov. 2, 2026 and Feb. 1, 2027. For most employers that is the third-quarter and fourth-quarter Form 941, Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return; our Form 941 and 940 guide covers the normal cycle. The Nov. 2 date had passed when this article was published. A third-quarter return from one of the 27 counties that has not been filed yet carries the Feb. 8, 2027 date instead.

Two returns can land on the same day. The third-quarter Form 941 that was not filed by Nov. 2 and the fourth-quarter Form 941 normally due Feb. 1 both carry Feb. 8, 2027. The wages and withholding on each still belong to their own quarter; only the filing date moved.

Deposits are different. Payroll and excise tax deposits were not postponed to Feb. 8. The release gave a short penalty abatement window in October and nothing after it. The body of the release puts that window at deposits due before Oct. 26, 2026 and made by Oct. 26. The Oct. 22 update note puts it at deposits due on or after Oct. 6 and before Oct. 21, made by Oct. 21. Either way the window has closed, and deposits now run on the normal schedule.

Florida corporate income tax: Feb. 23, 2027

Florida has no personal income tax, so the state side of this relief matters to corporations and other entities that file a Florida corporate income tax return. The DOR memorandum of Oct. 14, 2026, signed by Executive Director Jim Zingale, rests on section 213.055(2), Florida Statutes. That subsection, read Nov. 4, 2026, lets the executive director extend due dates for tax returns and payments and waive interest during a declared state of emergency. The memorandum cites Executive Orders 26-202, 26-211 and 26-212, issued Oct. 6, Oct. 7 and Oct. 10, 2026. Those orders tracked the storm from Tropical Depression Nine to a Category 3 hurricane.

On that authority the memorandum suspends due dates and extension periods for Florida corporate income tax returns and tentative tax. In its words they are "suspended until Tuesday, February 23, 2027" for affected taxpayers in the same 27 counties. The DOR chose that date as 15 days after the federal date. The DOR home page carries a notice dated Oct. 15, 2026 that says eligible corporate income/franchise tax filers have until Feb. 23, 2027 to file.

The memorandum points back to the IRS release to define who counts as an affected taxpayer. It cites sections 220.222, 220.31 and 220.32, Florida Statutes, for the due dates and extension periods it suspends. It covers corporate income tax only. The DOR's emergency and disaster page, read Nov. 4, 2026, shows no other item tied to Isaias. Sales tax and reemployment tax dates are not moved by it. Corporate filers who want the state and federal returns handled together can read about our business and corporate tax service.

Casualty losses and FEMA 3655-EM

The release also covers disaster losses. Taxpayers in the area can claim a disaster loss on the return for the year it happened, 2026, or on the return for the prior year, 2025. The election to use the prior year can be made up to six months after the due date of the disaster-year return, without regard to any extension. The IRS asks that FEMA declaration number 3655-EM appear on any return claiming the loss. Publication 547 and Form 4684 carry the rules.

Two smaller items ride along. The IRS waives its fee for copies of past returns when 3655-EM is written at the top of Form 4506 or 4506-T. Installment agreements will not default over a missed payment inside the postponement period, though interest and late-payment penalties keep running.

Outside the 27 counties, or holding a penalty notice

Two situations come up again and again after a storm. The first is an affected taxpayer whose address is outside the counties. The release points that person to the IRS Special Services line, whose number is on the FL-2026-07 page. The second is a penalty notice. If a late-filing or late-payment notice arrives for a due date inside the postponement period, the release says to call the number on the notice. The release says the IRS will abate the penalty on that call. When a notice goes beyond a simple abatement call, our IRS defense team handles the correspondence.

This article explains what the IRS and the Florida Department of Revenue have published as of Nov. 4, 2026. It is not advice for your situation, so confirm with your CPA before you rely on any date here.

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