IRS sends special mailing to taxpayers in certain disaster areas

Washington- The Internal Revenue Service is sending a special follow-up mailing to taxpayers in several states affected by disasters to let them know that they have additional time to pay their taxes.

The IRS is taking this special step to help reassure taxpayers affected by disasters that they do have extra time to file and pay their taxes. This new mailing is going to residents in California and seven other states in designated disaster areas that received a CP14 notice from the IRS in late May and June. The earlier mailings are for taxpayers who have a balance due, and they are sent out as a legal requirement. While the notice received by taxpayers says they need to pay in 21 days, these taxpayers actually have until later this year to timely pay under the disaster declaration.

Given the large reach of these disaster declarations and partner feedback, the IRS took an additional step to do a follow-up mailing to let these taxpayers know they have more time. The mailings, known as a CP14CL, will occur during the next few weeks. The letters are in English and Spanish.

“The IRS is working hard to improve our operations as part of our new Strategic Operating Plan,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “We know our initial mailing caused confusion for taxpayers and tax professionals, and we worked quickly to send a follow-up reminder to help reassure people. This mailing reflects how we’re trying to be more taxpayer-focused given the additional resources that we’ve been given under the Inflation Reduction Act.”

The notice going to affected people in eight states includes additional information to help taxpayers understand the disaster relief they’ve received.

“Since your address of record is located in a federally declared disaster area, the IRS has automatically granted you disaster relief,” the notice reads. “This gives you an extension of time to file your tax returns as well as make your tax payment listed on the CP14 Notices. You do not need to contact us to get this extra time to pay.”

The vast majority of impacted taxpayers (letter recipients) are in California, with smaller numbers of taxpayers scheduled to receive the follow-up letter in disaster areas in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The IRS has also updated the insert that will accompany upcoming CP14 balance-due notices to make it clearer that the payment date listed in the letter does not apply to those covered by a disaster declaration, and the disaster dates remain in effect. The plain language insert, which is in English and Spanish, includes a special QR code that takes people to the IRS.gov disaster page.