Taxpayers in Hawaii County have until February 1, 2027, to file various federal returns and make certain tax payments after the May 22, 2026, earthquake. The IRS announced the relief on September 10 as notice HI-2026-03, tied to FEMA disaster declaration 4936-DR. The same date also covers earlier relief for the county’s March storms, flooding and mudslides.
The IRS says these taxpayers “now have until Feb. 1, 2027, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.” The IRS applies the relief to taxpayers located in the covered area, so people with Hawaii County addresses do not have to ask for the later date.
Who counts as covered in Hawaii County
Individuals who live in Hawaii County are covered, and so are businesses, including tax-exempt groups, whose principal place of business is there. The IRS also extends the date to taxpayers outside the county whose records are inside it. Relief workers with recognized government or philanthropic groups, and visitors hurt or killed in the disaster, qualify as well.
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A taxpayer outside the county who cannot reach records, such as an owner with a mainland address and books kept in the county, has to ask. The IRS says to call its Special Services line at 866-562-5227. Practitioners who hold records for ten or more affected clients follow the agency’s separate bulk-request process.
The filings that moved to February 1
Most returns with an original or extended due date before February 1, 2027, are pushed to that day. That covers individual, corporate, estate and trust, partnership, S corporation, gift and generation-skipping transfer returns, and exempt-organization information returns. Quarterly payroll and certain excise returns normally due July 31 and November 2, 2026, also move.
People who filed for an extension on their 2025 individual return get the February 1 date for the return itself. Residents who have not yet filed 2025 returns, and thought they were late, now have the later date.
Estimated income tax payments originally due on or after May 22, 2026, are postponed through February 1, 2027. The IRS says no failure-to-pay penalty applies if those payments are made by that day. Self-employed residents and retirees who pay quarterly are the ones this helps.
What the relief does not cover
Payments on 2025 returns do not move. The IRS says those were due April 15, 2026, and are not eligible for the postponement, even for taxpayers with an extension to file. A resident who filed late on extension and still owes tax is carrying interest and late-payment penalties from April.
Information returns in the W-2, 1094, 1095, 1097, 1098 and 1099 series are not postponed, and neither are Forms 1042-S, 3921, 3922 and 8027. Employment and excise tax deposits are also left out, with one narrow exception. Deposits due from May 22 to June 8, 2026, were penalty-free if made by June 8.
Payment plans, penalty notices and losses
Installment agreements and payment plans do not default for missed payments during the postponement, according to the IRS. Interest and late-payment penalties keep accruing, and reminder notices and direct debits continue. Anyone who wants a direct debit stopped has to contact the IRS or the bank.
A late-filing or late-payment penalty notice with a due date inside the postponement period can be challenged. The IRS says to call the number on the notice and ask for abatement. Taxpayers who do not qualify for disaster relief can still ask for reasonable-cause relief.
Earthquake losses can be claimed on the return for the disaster year or the year before. The election can be made up to six months after that return’s due date, without counting extensions. The declaration number 4936-DR goes on any return claiming the loss, and IRS Publication 547 covers how casualty losses are figured.
Fees are waived for copies of earlier returns. The number 4936-DR is written in bold at the top of Form 4506 or Form 4506-T. Special disaster distributions from retirement plans, reported on Form 8915-F, may also be available, though plan rules differ.
Two other provisions reach beyond the deadline itself. Under Public Law 119-64, the postponement counts as an extension when the time limit for claiming a refund is figured. The IRS also says qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income, and that foreign bank account report deadlines may be extended under FinCEN notices.
Free help exists for taxpayers without a preparer. VITA and Tax Counseling for the Elderly sites take calls at 800-906-9887, and AARP Tax-Aide at 888-227-7669. IRS Free File guided software is open to anyone with 2025 adjusted gross income of $89,000 or less.
The question left for Hawaii County households is which of their dates actually moved. A 2025 balance due in April did not, while a September estimated payment did. Sorting each notice and each due date against February 1 is the work that remains.
Which Hawaii County dates actually moved?
A taxpayer who assumes every date moved can miss the one that did not, such as a 2025 balance due in April that is still accruing interest. A late-payment penalty notice that arrives after that can look like a mistake, and the reply deadline on it keeps running.
The IRS Refund Recovery Kit includes a notice decoder and a refund status tracker spreadsheet, which is where a mixed set of dates and letters can be sorted into moved and not moved. Its pages on why a refund stalls cover IRS letters too, so a penalty notice does not get set aside until it is too late.
Get the notice decoder and refund tracker kit for IRS letters →
More Financial Reading
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- 17 Medicare Money Moves Now That Part D Caps at $2,400
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
