Three unrelated disasters in three different states now share the same federal tax deadline. The Internal Revenue Service has separately postponed filing and payment deadlines to Feb. 1, 2027, for taxpayers in 21 Indiana counties hit by summer storms and tornadoes, six Washington counties burned by wildfire, and Hawaii County following a magnitude-6.0 earthquake in May. None of the three announcements references the others, and the disasters themselves have nothing in common, but the fine print attached to each is similar enough — and different enough in a few key spots — that taxpayers in any of the three areas are better served checking the notice for their own state than assuming one blanket rule covers all of them.
Three disasters, one Feb. 1 deadline
The Indiana relief, designated IN-2026-01, was announced Sept. 2. The Washington relief, WA-2026-03, was announced Aug. 31. The Hawaii relief, HI-2026-03, followed on Sept. 10. All three landed within the same two-and-a-half-week stretch, and all three point to the identical Feb. 1, 2027, filing and payment deadline, even though the underlying disasters range from tornadoes to wildfire to an earthquake.
What the postponement covers, in all three states
Each notice reaches the same broad set of filings: individual, corporate, and estate and trust income tax returns; partnership and S corporation returns; estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax returns; annual returns for tax-exempt organizations; and employment and certain excise tax returns with an original or extended due date falling inside that state’s disaster window. Estimated income tax payments due during the same window are postponed as well, with no penalty for a missed installment as long as it is paid by Feb. 1, 2027.
Indiana’s 21 counties: storms, tornadoes and flooding
The Indiana relief covers severe storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding that began Aug. 11, 2026, and reaches taxpayers in 21 counties — Carroll, Dearborn, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Lake, LaPorte, Madison, Marion, Morgan, Porter, Pulaski, Randolph, Rush, Tipton, Union and Wayne — under FEMA disaster declaration 4933-DR. Quarterly payroll and certain excise tax returns normally due Nov. 2, 2026, are pushed to Feb. 1 as well, and penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due between Aug. 11 and Aug. 26, 2026, are abated as long as the deposits are made by Aug. 26.
Washington’s wildfire counties, plus three tribal nations
The Washington relief responds to wildfires that began July 31, 2026, in Chelan, Ferry, Okanogan, Spokane, Stevens and Yakima counties, and the same relief extends to businesses and residents within the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Payroll and excise tax deposit penalties are abated for deposits due between July 31 and Aug. 17, 2026, if made by Aug. 17, and quarterly payroll and excise returns normally due both July 31 and Nov. 2, 2026, move to Feb. 1, 2027.
Hawaii County’s earthquake relief layers onto an earlier flood
Hawaii’s relief traces to a magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck the west side of the Big Island on May 22, 2026, and it arrives on top of tax relief the IRS had already granted Hawaii County earlier in the year for March flooding and mudslides, according to a local report on the announcement. Deposit penalties tied to the earthquake are abated for deposits due between May 22 and June 8, 2026, if made by June 8, and the same quarterly payroll and excise return dates — July 31 and Nov. 2, 2026 — are postponed to Feb. 1, 2027.
The April payment that none of the three postponements touch
All three notices carry an identical catch that is easy to miss: the Feb. 1, 2027, deadline applies to individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2025 income tax return, but the payment tied to that 2025 return was due April 15, 2026, and none of the three disasters postpone that payment. A taxpayer in any of the three areas who assumes the entire 2025 tax obligation moved to February can still face interest or a late-payment penalty on the April amount. Outside the covered counties, taxpayers whose necessary records sit inside one of the disaster areas have to call the IRS Special Services Hotline at 866-562-5227 to request the same relief rather than receiving it automatically, and the IRS maintains a running list of current disaster relief areas on its Around the Nation page for anyone trying to confirm which notice applies to them. A taxpayer in any of the three areas who receives a late-filing or late-payment penalty notice despite qualifying for relief is directed to call the number printed on the notice itself so the IRS can abate the penalty directly.
All three notices also flag the same retirement-account option: affected taxpayers with a workplace plan or an IRA may qualify for a special disaster distribution that skips the usual 10 percent early-withdrawal penalty and can be spread into taxable income over three years rather than all at once, under rules tied to Form 8915-F, though each plan sets its own procedure for approving one rather than granting it automatically.
The distinction between a postponed return and a postponed payment
Each of these postponements pushes back when a return or payment is due, but none reaches the regular tax payment that was already due last April, and a taxpayer who assumes the entire prior-year bill moved to February can still face an interest or penalty notice on that earlier amount.
It is a 13-page kit with a notice decoder and the refund-trace steps (Form 3911)…