Victims of Hurricane Debby were offered tax relief and various deadlines were postponed until February 3 of next year.

Taxpayers in certain areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia now have more time to file personal and business federal tax returns and make tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced Friday.

The relief applies to tax filing and payment deadlines from August 4 for South Carolina and Georgia, August 5 for North Carolina and August 1 for Florida through February 3, 2025 for all states.

This means the new deadline applies to all individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations that have a valid extension to file their 2023 federal tax return.

However, an extension of the payment deadline for these tax returns is not possible because they were due last spring, before Hurricane Debby.

The extension also affects quarterly advance payments of income tax, which are normally due on September 16 of this year and January 15 of next year, as well as quarterly wage and consumption tax returns, which are normally due on October 31 of this year and January 31 of next year.

In addition, Florida will mitigate penalties for failure to deposit payroll and use taxes due on or after August 1 and before August 16 of this year, provided the deposits are made by August 16.

In South Carolina and Georgia, the same applies to payroll and use tax deposits due on or after August 4 and before August 19, as long as the deposits are made before August 19. In North Carolina, this applies to deposits due on or after August 5 and before August 20, but the deposits must be made before August 20.

To qualify for the extension, individuals and businesses must be located in an area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Currently, this includes all 46 counties in South Carolina and the following 61 counties in Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin , Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa , Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Walton, Wakulla and Washington.

In Georgia, the area includes the 55 counties of Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge , Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox and Worth.

Ultimately, 66 counties in North Carolina were designated by FEMA: Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Davidson, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange , Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson and Yadkin.

If you are in one of these areas and meet the other eligibility requirements, the IRS will automatically grant you this relief. You do not need to contact the agency, but you should make sure your address on file with the IRS is correct.

If you believe you may be eligible for assistance but live outside the disaster area, you can contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.