Damage from deadly Hurricane Helene was so serious and widespread that the federal government quickly approved aid and deployed thousands of National Guard and active-duty soldiers to help, but financial relief will also be an important part of the long recovery effort.
The Internal Revenue Service announced disaster tax relief on Oct. 1 for all of South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina, parts of Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. More about that below.
By Oct. 2, more than $10 million in direct financial assistance to Helene survivors had been approved through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individual Assistance program. In South Carolina such assistance is available in 16 counties. Apply at disasterassistance.gov or call 800-621-3362.
South Carolina previously requested FEMA individual assistance for Tropical Storm Debby, in Charleston, Colleton and Dorchester counties, but as of Oct. 3 that had not been approved.
U.S. Small Business Administration loans with low interest and delayed payments for homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofit groups hit by Hurricane Helene are available in 27 S.C. counties — learn more or apply online at lending.sba.gov/search-disaster, or call 800‐659‐2955.
SBA loans related to Hurricane Debby were approved in September for 13 South Carolina counties. SBA loans are for storm losses not fully covered by insurance, interest rates are 4 percent or less, and no interest accrues and no payments are due for the first 12 months.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of FHA-insured mortgages, related to Helene impacts, and promoted HUD’s mortgage insurance for disaster victims program aimed at helping people rebuild with no-down payment loans.
A mailbox stands in a flooded yard in Cayce near the Congaree River, which rose to historic levels due to flooding from Helene on Sept 30.
NOTE: Disaster-related scams are common. Know that federal agencies don’t charge for assistance. Don’t provide personal information unless you’re sure who you’re dealing with.
So to recap:
- “Individual assistance” can provide money for temporary housing, hotel costs, rental assistance, repair or replacement of owner-occupied homes and more. In South Carolina that’s available in Aiken, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Cherokee, Edgefield, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Lexington, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Saluda, Spartanburg and Union counties.
- SBA loans for physical damages are also available in those 16 counties. SBA loans for economic injury are available in those same counties, plus Abbeville, Allendale, Calhoun, Chester, Colleton, Fairfield, Hampton, McCormick, Orangeburg, Richland, and York.
- IRS disaster tax relief is available throughout South Carolina.
So, what is disaster tax relief? For most individuals and businesses, the important thing is that it means delayed filing deadlines for quarterly and annual income tax returns.
For starters, 2024 returns will be due May 1, rather than April 15. That also goes for 2023 returns that already have valid extensions.
That’s not a big difference for individuals and households filing an annual income tax return — a 15-day extension of the deadline. But for businesses and self-employed people who file quarterly, it’s significant.
Quarterly estimated income tax payments that would normally be due Jan. 15 and April 15, 2025, are not due until May 1.
The same goes for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Oct. 31 and Jan. 31. (Some deadlines had already been extended to Feb. 3, due to Debby, but now the deadline moves to May 1.)
People in a declared major disaster area who need to withdraw money from a retirement account can take out as much as $22,000 as a “disaster recovery distribution” within 180 days of the incident and they won’t have to pay the usual 10 percent penalty for early withdrawals.
In addition, funds that are subject to income tax (such as, from a traditional IRA or a 401(k) plan) could be spread out over three years, with one-third of the money being counted each year. The tax form for that is 8915-F, and along with other details can be found at irs.gov.
