The IRS has added nine more Indiana counties to its storm relief: Cass, Fountain, Grant, Parke, Pike, Putnam, Starke, Vermillion and Warren. Taxpayers in those counties now share the same postponement as the counties named earlier, which moves many federal filing and payment deadlines to February 1, 2027. The addition was posted on October 8.
The relief traces to IRS announcement IN-2026-01, first issued September 2 and tied to FEMA disaster declaration 4933-DR. The storms, straight-line winds, tornadoes and flooding began on August 11, 2026, which is the date that sets which deadlines move.
The nine counties that were just added
The IRS update note, dated October 8, adds Cass, Fountain, Grant, Parke, Pike, Putnam, Starke, Vermillion and Warren counties. Those nine sit beside the counties named in the first announcement, which ABC57 reported on September 2 as 21 counties, from Carroll and Dearborn through Union and Wayne.
The IRS page’s own county list has not caught up with the note in every spot. It still spells one county “Park” and does not yet show Fountain, Pike or Putnam in the list. The update note governs, so people in those three counties are covered even where the list is out of date.
Individuals and businesses that live or operate in a covered county do not have to apply. The IRS says it applies the relief automatically to anyone who lives or has a business in the area, and no form is needed to get the new date.
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Which deadlines moved to February 1
The IRS says the postponement covers most returns and payments with an original or extended due date between August 11, 2026 and February 1, 2027. That includes individual, business and employment returns. People who already had a valid extension for their 2025 individual income tax return now have until February 1, 2027 to file it.
The extension does not stretch payments that were already late. The IRS says the tax payments that were due on April 15, 2026 for those 2025 returns are not eligible for the relief. Estimated tax payments originally due on or after August 11, 2026 are postponed, and no penalty applies if they are paid by February 1.
Employers get the same date for quarterly payroll and certain excise tax returns that would normally be due on November 2. Payroll and excise deposit penalties were handled separately: the IRS abates penalties on deposits due from August 11 through August 25 if the deposits were made by August 26.
Not everything moves. The IRS says information returns in the W-2 and 1099 families, along with several other forms, are not covered, and employment and excise tax deposits stay on their normal schedule unless a separate IRS rule lists them. Anyone who files those forms for Indiana clients should confirm which are affected.
What people outside the counties can do
A taxpayer who lives outside the covered counties but keeps records inside them can still ask for relief. The IRS tells those taxpayers to call its Special Services line at 866-562-5227. The same number is for tax professionals who work in the area and serve clients elsewhere. Practitioners who keep records for 10 or more clients are pointed to the IRS bulk-request guidance instead of individual calls.
The IRS also lists relief workers, and visitors who were killed or injured in the disaster, among those eligible for the postponement. The February 1, 2027 date is the same for every group the release names.
The IRS keeps a running list of disaster relief on its tax relief in disaster situations page, which carries the Indiana entry as IN-2026-01 with deadlines postponed to February 1, 2027. The entry is the quickest way to see whether a county or a later update has changed.
Storm losses and penalty notices
People with storm damage can claim disaster-related casualty losses on the return for the year of the disaster or on the prior year’s return. The IRS says to put the FEMA number, 4933-DR, on any such return. The rules for what counts as a deductible loss are in IRS Publication 547, which covers casualties, thefts and losses on deposits.
A late-filing or late-payment penalty notice that carries a due date inside the postponement period falls under the relief. The agency says to call the number printed on the notice to ask for the penalty to be removed. For cases outside the relief, the IRS lists natural disasters among valid reasons on its reasonable-cause penalty relief page, with documentation of the disaster as supporting proof.
The February 1 date is a long runway, and it also means that tax matters can sit unfinished for months. Households and small employers in the nine new counties now have the same room as the original 21, with the same exclusions and the same August 11 starting line.
Is a late-payment notice arriving in a newly added Indiana county?
The county list answers whether the Feb. 1 date applies. It does not answer what a letter means when one arrives with an older due date on it, or when a refund on a postponed return seems slow.
The turn from the county list to the paperwork is where The IRS Refund Recovery Kit comes in. It includes a notice decoder that explains what IRS letters are asking, and a refund status tracker spreadsheet for keeping dates, amounts and responses in one place. Its Part 4 is built around why a refund stalls and what each notice means.
Get the IRS notice decoder and refund tracker for a postponed Indiana return →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
