Natural Disaster Preparedness Month

Hurricane and wildfire season is upon us and as such September is National Preparedness Month. The IRS has released a helpful reminder for taxpayers to develop their plans.

The IRS recommends that taxpayers secure critical documents which include; tax returns, birth certificates, deeds, titles, and insurance policies in a waterproof guaranteed space. You should also duplicate and scan documents for backup using either a flash drive or through a cloud-based server. Doing so will help you reconstruct your records after a disaster occurs. This helps for tax purposes, federal assistance, and insurance reimbursements.

Also recommended is that you record all your property using IRS workbooks found in Publication 584 and 584-B which can help individuals and businesses compile lists of belongings or business equipment.

For employers, the IRS recommends creating an Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) account at EFTPS.gov in order to monitor payroll tax deposits and set up email alerts.

If you lose some or even all of your records during a disaster the IRS provides a reconstructing records webpage. Taxpayers that have been affected by a disaster can contact the IRS at 866-565-5227 and speak with a specialist trained in disaster-related issued.

Even if you are not physically in a disaster area, you may still qualify for relief if your records are kept in a location that is a covered disaster area.

For more information, please contact the Professionals at The Center for Financial, Legal, and Tax Planning, Inc., at (618) 997-3436.