The IRS Has Moved Federal Tax Deadlines to February 1, 2027 for 62 Texas Counties Hit by the July 2026 Storms: Which Counties, Which Filings, and What Still Has to Be Done

What Changed, and When

Three dates and two agencies explain the whole thing.

July 14, 2026 — the state disaster proclamation. Per the Governor’s office, Governor Greg Abbott issued a state disaster proclamation on that date covering 62 counties for the severe storms and flooding. The IRS release ties its relief to “the disaster declaration issued by the State of Texas” and assigns it declaration number SD-0018-DR. July 14, 2026 is also the date the postponement period begins.

October 15, 2026 — the request. The Governor’s office states that on October 15 the Governor requested federal disaster tax relief for taxpayers in all 62 counties.

October 27, 2026 — the IRS granted it. The IRS published announcement TX-2026-05, dated October 27, 2026, postponing certain federal tax filing and payment deadlines to February 1, 2027. The Governor’s office announced the grant on October 28, 2026.

This is not the FEMA program. In a letter dated September 28, 2026, FEMA declined the state’s request for Individual Assistance for these same storms, as covered on this site on October 26. Individual Assistance and a section 7508A deadline postponement are two different programs, decided by two different agencies, on two different records. A household that got nothing from FEMA can still sit inside the IRS relief, because the IRS release keys eligibility to residence or place of business in a listed county — not to a FEMA award.

Who in Texas This Reaches

Per the IRS release and the Governor’s announcement, individuals and households that reside in, and businesses whose principal place of business is in, any of these 62 counties qualify:

Atascosa · Austin · Bandera · Bastrop · Bexar · Blanco · Brazoria · Brewster · Burnet · Caldwell · Colorado · Comal · Crockett · DeWitt · Dimmit · Edwards · Fayette · Fort Bend · Frio · Galveston · Gillespie · Goliad · Gonzales · Grimes · Guadalupe · Harris · Hays · Jackson · Karnes · Kendall · Kerr · Kimble · Kinney · La Salle · Lavaca · Lee · Live Oak · Llano · Mason · Matagorda · Maverick · McMullen · Medina · Menard · Mitchell · Pecos · Real · Schleicher · Sutton · Terrell · Travis · Uvalde · Val Verde · Victoria · Waller · Washington · Webb · Wharton · Williamson · Wilson · Zapata · Zavala

That list runs from the Hill Country flood corridor through Kerr, Kendall, Gillespie, Llano and Burnet, across the San Antonio and Austin metros, down the Gulf Coast through Galveston, Brazoria and Matagorda, along the border through Maverick, Val Verde, Webb and Zapata, and out into the Trans-Pecos in Brewster, Pecos and Terrell. It is a large share of the state by area.

The IRS release also extends relief to three groups who are not residents of a covered county: a taxpayer whose records needed to meet a deadline are located in the covered area; relief workers affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization assisting in the covered area; and any individual visiting the covered area who was killed or injured as a result of the disaster. Per the release, the IRS identifies taxpayers inside the covered area automatically, while those outside it must call the IRS Special Services toll-free line listed in the release to request the relief.

What This Changes Legally

The release is specific about what moves and what does not. These are the pieces the IRS keeps separate.

• The window. Deadlines falling on or after July 14, 2026 and before February 1, 2027 are generally postponed to February 1, 2027. The IRS cites section 7508A and identifies the covered area under Treasury Regulation section 301.7508A-1(d)(2).
• What returns are in. Per the release: individual, corporate, estate and trust income tax returns; partnership, S corporation and trust returns; estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax returns; annual information returns of tax-exempt organizations; and employment and certain excise tax returns, where the original or extended due date falls in the window.
• Extended 2025 individual returns. The February 1, 2027 date applies to someone who had a valid extension to file a 2025 individual income tax return.
• But the 2025 balance is carved out. The release states plainly that because payments on those 2025 returns were due April 15, 2026, those payments are not eligible for this relief. An extension to file has never been an extension to pay, and the disaster postponement does not change that for a payment that came due before the window opened.
• Estimated tax. Estimated income tax installments originally due on or after July 14, 2026 are postponed through February 1, 2027, with no failure-to-pay-estimated-tax penalty where payment is made by that date.
• Payroll and excise. Quarterly payroll and certain excise returns normally due July 31, 2026 and November 2, 2026 are included. Deposits are treated differently: penalties on deposits due on or after July 14, 2026 and before July 29, 2026 are abated only where the deposits were actually made by July 29, 2026.
• Information returns are generally out. Unless an act is specifically listed in Revenue Procedure 2018-58, the postponement does not reach information returns in the W-2, 1094, 1095, 1097, 1098 or 1099 series, or Forms 1042-S, 3921, 3922 or 8027.
• Notices still go out. The release says that where a late-filing or late-payment penalty notice arrives with an original due date inside the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated. The relief does not stop the notice; it gives grounds to have it removed.
• Installment agreements hold. Reminder notices and direct debits continue, but a missed payment does not cause an agreement to default during the postponement period. Interest and late-payment charges continue to accrue.
• The refund window gets longer too. Under the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act, Public Law 119-64, a postponement of a return deadline under section 7508A is treated as an extension for purposes of calculating the limit on a refund or credit — which the release describes as giving affected taxpayers additional time to claim one.
• Disaster relief payments and retirement accounts. The release notes that qualified disaster relief payments are generally excluded from gross income, points to Publication 525, and says additional relief may be available to someone in a retirement plan or IRA depending on the plan terms and federal tax law. It directs the taxpayer to their plan administrator or IRA provider, and it does not say any particular person qualifies.
• Fee waiver on old returns. The IRS waives the usual fee for copies of previously filed returns for affected taxpayers, where the declaration number SD-0018-DR is written in bold at the top of Form 4506 or Form 4506-T.

None of that tells any particular household or business what its own position is. What it does say is that for people in 62 named counties a long list of federal deadlines moved, that the move is written down and public, and that the pieces which are not automatic are identifiable from the document itself.

What Kind of Option Might Apply

Nothing on this page is advice about anyone’s return. These are the kinds of questions tax attorneys describe working through after a disaster postponement:

• Which county actually controls. Residence, and for a business the principal place of business, is what the release keys to. Someone who moved during or after the storms, or who runs a business in one county and lives in another, has a question about which address governs.
• Whether a phone request is needed. A taxpayer outside the 62 counties whose records are inside them is covered, but per the release has to ask. So does a practitioner holding records for clients outside the area, with separate guidance where ten or more clients are involved.
• Which bill is postponed and which is not. The 2025 payment carve-out and the deposit rules are where the release draws its hardest lines, and reading a notice against those lines is detail work.
• What to do with a penalty notice that already arrived. Abatement under this relief, reasonable-cause abatement for someone who falls outside it, and an ordinary dispute about the underlying tax are three different routes.
• How a flood loss is claimed, and in which year. A casualty loss, the treatment of insurance or grant proceeds, and the election available for a federally declared disaster each have their own rules and their own timing, and the choice between tax years is a decision rather than a form.
• Whether a retirement-account withdrawal is the right tool. The release raises the possibility and sends the question to the plan administrator. The tax consequences of taking the money are a separate matter from whether the plan permits it.
• How this sits alongside everything else. A FEMA determination, an insurance claim, a mortgage servicer, a landlord and a small-business lender all have their own clocks, and the February 1 date does not move any of them.

Many people in these counties spent the summer dealing with water in the house and are now opening mail from the IRS. That is an ordinary reason to talk to a lawyer, and talking to one costs nothing through this service.

Why Acting Quickly Can Matter

February 1, 2027 is a real date, and it is closer than it looks: the returns and payments that stacked up between July 14, 2026 and the end of January 2027 all come due on it at once. For anyone who had an extension on a 2025 individual return, that return and a quarter’s worth of estimated tax and a payroll return can share a single due date.

Several of the other clocks in the release have already run or are running. The July 29, 2026 deposit date is in the past, so whether a deposit penalty is abatable is now a question about what was actually paid and when. A penalty notice has its own response window printed on it. Casualty-loss and amended-return choices run on the tax year, not on the disaster. And records are the thing disasters destroy: bank statements, receipts, contractor invoices and insurance correspondence are easier to assemble now than next spring, which is part of why the IRS waives the fee for copies of prior returns and publishes guidance on reconstructing records.

It is best to have a tax attorney look at the notices, the county, the return years and the loss documentation together, while the paperwork is still in hand and February 1 is still months away rather than weeks. If a lawyer in our network offers an initial consultation, it is free.

Sources

1. IRS announces tax relief for Texans impacted by July storms, various deadlines postponed to Feb. 1, 2027, Internal Revenue Service, announcement TX-2026-05, October 27, 2026 — the 62 counties, the July 14, 2026 to February 1, 2027 window, the covered returns, the 2025 payment carve-out, the deposit rules, declaration number SD-0018-DR and the Special Services contact route (primary document).
2. Governor Abbott Announces Federal Disaster Tax Relief For Texans Impacted By July Storms, Office of the Texas Governor, October 28, 2026 — the July 14, 2026 state disaster proclamation covering 62 counties, the October 15, 2026 request and the county list (primary document).
3. 26 C.F.R. section 301.7508A-1 — Postponement of certain tax-related deadlines by reason of a federally declared disaster, Legal Information Institute — the regulation defining the covered disaster area and affected taxpayers (regulation).
4. Tax relief in disaster situations, Internal Revenue Service — the agency index of current disaster relief guidance, where later amendments to this relief would appear.
5. IRS extends tax deadlines for Texans affected by July storms as flood victims await FEMA aid, KSAT, October 29, 2026 — independent coverage, including the relationship to the pending FEMA question.
6. IRS extends tax deadlines for Texans in 62 counties hit by July storms, CBS Austin — independent confirmation of the county count and the February 1, 2027 date.
7. IRS provides tax relief for taxpayers affected by severe storms in Texas, KPMG TaxNewsFlash, October 2026 — independent professional summary of the postponement period and the deposit penalty abatement.
8. FEMA Has Denied Individual Assistance for the July 2026 Texas Floods, this site, October 26, 2026 — the separate FEMA determination of September 28, 2026, for context on how the two programs differ.