En esta noticia
The Internal Revenue Service has pushed a wide range of federal tax deadlines to Feb. 1, 2027, for individuals and businesses in four Wisconsin counties hit by severe storms and tornadoes that began July 27: Forest, Outagamie, Vilas and Winnebago.
The agency announced the postponement Wednesday, after the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a disaster declaration for the area.
The new date reaches back to any covered deadline that fell on or after July 27, 2026. Filings and payments that came due in the weeks since the storms count as on time as long as they’re handled by Feb. 1.
Which IRS tax deadlines move to Feb. 1 in the 4 Wisconsin counties hit by tornadoes?
The postponement covers most federal returns and payments with an original or extended due date inside that window. Among them:
- 2025 individual income tax returns filed on a valid extension.
- Quarterly payroll returns and certain excise tax returns normally due July 31 and Nov. 2, 2026.
- Estimated income tax payments that came due on or after July 27.
- Business returns, including those for corporations, partnerships and S corporations, plus estate, trust and gift tax returns.
- Annual information returns from tax-exempt organizations.
Some dates don’t move. Taxes owed on 2025 returns were due April 15, 2026, months before the storms. An extension to file those returns doesn’t buy extra time to pay that balance.
The relief also leaves out information returns, such as Forms W-2 and the 1099 series, along with payroll and excise tax deposits. However, the IRS waived penalties on deposits due from July 27 to Aug. 10 that were made by Aug. 11.
Taxpayers on an IRS payment plan won’t have the agreement default over payments missed during the postponement. Interest and late-payment penalties still build up, though. Automatic debits also keep running unless the taxpayer asks the IRS or their bank to pause them.
A recently enacted law, the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act, treats the postponement as an extension when the IRS calculates the deadline for claiming a refund. In practice, affected taxpayers get more time to claim refunds or credits.
Who doesn’t need to apply for IRS tornado tax relief in Wisconsin?
Anyone who lives or runs a business in the four counties doesn’t have to request anything. The IRS identifies taxpayers in the disaster area on its own and applies the relief automatically. That includes tax-exempt organizations whose main place of business is there.
Some eligible taxpayers do need to call IRS Special Services at 866-562-5227. That includes people and businesses outside the four counties whose records needed to meet a deadline are in the disaster area.
Relief workers with a recognized government or charitable organization also qualify, as do visitors who were killed or injured in the storms. They can request the extra time through the same line.
Tax preparers based in the disaster area who keep records for clients elsewhere can also contact Special Services. Preparers handling 10 or more of those clients should use the IRS process for bulk disaster relief requests.
A taxpayer may get a late-filing or late-payment penalty notice for a due date inside the postponement window. In that case, they should call the number on the notice to have the penalty removed.