Hurricane Katrina: The Response by the Internal Revenue Service

RS22261 -- Hurricane Katrina: The Response by the Internal Revenue Service

September 14, 2005

Summary

After Hurricane Katrina, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced several tax relief measures to aid affected individuals and businesses. They cover a range of subjects, from postponing deadlines for paying taxes and filing returns for individuals, employee benefit plans and tax-exempt bond issuers, to waiving penalties for certain fuel excise taxes. This report summarizes these measures and discusses the statutory authority for the IRS's actions.