This guide is for Alabama residents who live in counties which have been declared Federal Disaster Areas in 2011. If you live in one of the counties below, you are eligible for special tax rules. If you do not live in one of these counties, this guide does NOT apply to you.

A summary of the rules that affect residents of the above counties:

1. Filing Date Delayed:

You have until June 30, 2011 to file your federal income tax return for 2010.

2. Claim the loss in 2010 OR 2011:

• You can claim a casualty loss for losses due to the storm or tornadoes.

• Important: You can claim the 2011 loss from the storm/tornado on either your 2010 OR 2011 tax return.

• If you have already filed your 2010 income tax return, you can amend the 2010 income tax return.

3. Mark Your Returns:

Taxpayers claiming losses on their 2010 return should print at the top of the first page "Alabama/Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding" on the top of the form.

4. No Fees for Copies of Lost Returns:

You can request copies of lost income tax returns. The IRS will waive fees for residents of the above counties.

ISSUE 1: Ask For Lost Tax Records NOW

Special tax rules apply to everyone living in the 42 Alabama counties designated as federal disaster areas. This is true even if you didn't have storm or flood damage. Don't live in one of these counties? Then you may want to talk to a tax expert or go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov. If you reside or have a business outside the covered disaster area, you must call the IRS disaster hotline at 1-866-562-5227 to request this tax relief.

Here are 2 things you can do now:

1. Ask the IRS for your lost tax records

• Lost your tax records? Even if it wasn't in the disaster, you need to get copies. This will be important later if you claim a casualty loss on your income tax return. Fill out IRS Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return. Ask for your 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 returns. You can ask for all these years on the same form.
• Good news! If you live in one of the disaster counties, the IRS won't charge fees. The IRS usually charges $57 for each return. But you can get the for FREE. To get free copies, you must write "Alabama/Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding" on the top of the form. You must write it in red ink.
• Did you file these tax returns while you lived in Alabama? Then fill out and mail to:

Internal Revenue Service
RAIVS Team
Stop 6716 AUSC
Austin, TX 73301

2. Ask for Transcripts of Account

• A transcript of account explains your tax history for a single year. It shows your income, the tax due, any tax payments, and what you still owe.
• Are you claiming a loss that will be carried back to earlier years? Then transcripts of account for those years are very important.
• Fill out IRS Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return. Ask for the years 2006 through 2009.
• To get free copies, you must write "Alabama/Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding" on the top of the form. You must write it in red ink.
• Did you file these tax returns while you lived in Alabama? Then fill out and mail to:

Internal Revenue Service
RAIVS Team
Stop 6716 AUSC
Austin, TX 73301

• Need the forms? They are linked just below under Forms. We already put "Alabama/Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding" on the top in red.
• Don't have a color printer? Then print the forms and use a pink high-lighter to mark those words at the top OR draw a red box around the words.
• You can also get these forms at the IRS website (www.irs.gov). For some forms you will need to add the sentence in red.

Forms:

IRS Form 4506, Request for Copy of Tax Return

IRS Form 4506-T, Request for Transcript of Tax Return

ISSUE 2: Change of Address

1. Tell the IRS if your address has changed.

Have you moved because of the tornadoes and damage? Fill out IRS Form 8822, Change of Address. This is important because:

• The IRS may be sending your refunds from an earlier year.
• The IRS may be sending letters to your old address. These letters may ask for information. Or they may be about your rights to go to court.
• The IRS may be sending bills to your old address. If you don't answer IRS letters, they may charge you a penalty fee. Or they may do other things to collect what you owe.

To tell the IRS you moved, fill out IRS Form 8822, Change of Address.

2. Need the form?

It is linked right above on this web page, OR get a copy on the IRS website at www.irs.gov. If you live in Alabama, mail the completed form to:

Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0023

ISSUE 3: File All Insurance and FEMA Claims

1. Did the storms and/or floods destroy or damage things you own?

You may be able to show this as a casualty loss on your income tax.

2. What losses can you claim?

You can claim casualty losses on your:

• Home
• Property
• Cars or trucks
• Appliances
• TVs, stereos, and other entertainment equipment
• Computers and printers
• Tools
• Household goods, such as dishes, towels, sheets, etc.
• Clothes

3. File Your Insurance Claims First

File your insurance claims and see how much they will pay. Don't have insurance? Or did insurance refuse to pay?

• You will need to prove this to the IRS. Keep any letters you get from your insurance company.

4. What if you don't give the IRS proof?

They won't OK your tax claim.

5. Need to call your insurance company?

Here are some insurance company phone numbers:

• State Farm: 1-800-732-5246
• ALFA: 1-800-964-2532
• Allstate: 1-800-255-7828
• Nationwide: 1-800-421-3535
• Traveler's: 1-800-252-4633
• Farmers Insurance Group: 1-800-435-7764
• USAA (United Services Auto Association): 1-800-531-8111
• Foremost Insurance Co.: 1-800-527-3907

Don't see your insurance company? Check your insurance papers, the Internet or the phone book.

6. Next, Apply with FEMA

One of the things FEMA will ask is if insurance paid you. That is why you should file with your insurance first. What your insurance paid is subtracted from what FEMA will pay.

FEMA gives money for:

• Short-time housing because of the disaster
• Home repairs
• Low-cost loans to cover uninsured property
• Unemployment, if it is because of the disaster
• Medical and dental costs caused by the disaster
• Funeral and burial costs caused by the disaster
• Clothing
• Furniture, refrigerator, stove, microwave, washing machine, clothes dryers, etc.
• Tools like special or protective clothing and equipment for your job
• Computers, school books, supplies
• Clean-up items like wet/dry vacuum, dehumidifier
• Cars or trucks ruined by the disaster
• Moving and storage expenses
• Other costs or serioius needs okayed by FEMA

Three ways to apply for FEMA help:

• Go to www.DisasterAssistance.gov on the Internet. You can apply online. If you use a smartphone or tablet computer, go to m.fema.gov.
• Or, call 1-800-621-3362 (TTY: 1-800-462-7585). The calls are free. Right now they are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.
• Or, go to one of the FEMA centers. To find the one near you, go to FEMA's Disaster Recovery Center Locator.

7. What will FEMA ask you?

• Your name and Social Security number
• Address of the damaged property
• Your current address and phone number
• Your insurance company and if they paid anything
• How much yearly income everyone in your household gets
• Bank routing and account number for direct deposit. Take your checkbook with you. This is on the bottom of each check.
• What you lost in the disaster

Take as much of this information to FEMA as you can. It will make things go faster. After you know what insurance and FEMA will pay, you can file a tax claim. What insurance and FEMA paid are subtracted from what you lost.

ISSUE 4: You Have Longer to File Your 2010 Federal and State Tax Return

1. You have until June 30, 2011 to file your 2010 Income Tax Return

• Need to know about other papers? Go to the IRS website at www.irs.gov.

2. Can't file by June 30, 2011?

• File IRS Form 4868. Then you will have until October 15, 2011.

3. Filing your 2010 income tax return after April 18, 2011? Or using IRS Form 4868 to ask for more time (extension)?

• You must have "Alabama/Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds and Flooding" on the top of the form. Either write it in red ink or use a form that already has be words in red on it.
• This makes sure you don't have to pay a fee for late filing.

4. Alabama Department of Revenue - State Taxpayers

On May 4, 2011, the Alabama Department of Revenue issued an order granting extensions.

• The extension order allows affected taxpayers to have until June 30, 2011 to file any Alabama tax return and state-administered local tax return that would have been due on or after April 15, 2011, and on or before June 30, 2011, without being subject to penalties and discount loss.
• Alabama's tax laws have no provision for the waiver of interest; however, late payment penalties will be waived for the affected taxpayers.
• Taxpayers seeking this Alabama tax relief should write "April Storms 2011" in red ink on any paper return/report that relies on this filing extension relief. For electronically-filed returns/reports, affected taxpayers should contact the Alabama Department of Revenue for filing guidance.

ISSUE 5: You Won't Have to Pay Some Late Fees

1. If you get charged a late fee (penalty).

You have until June 30, 2011 to file tax returns. If you file by then, you should not have to pay late fees.

2. What if the IRS says you owe a fee (penalty) for filing late?

Call the phone number in the IRS letter. Tell them you live in a Federal disaster area county. Ask them to take off the late fee and the interest.

3. The IRS will take off the fee if:

• You live in one of the 42 federally declared disaster counties in Alabama;
• You filed your return or a request for extension by June 30, 2011; AND
• You paid any taxes you owe before June 30, 2011

Reviewed June 2011

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