Do I Get More Time to File My Taxes After a Hurricane in Florida?

Yes, if you’re in one of the 27 named Florida counties hit by Hurricane Isaias. The IRS pushed the deadline for returns and payments that would’ve been due between October 9, 2026 and February 8, 2027 all the way out to February 8, 2027. Baker County is on that list. The other six counties I work, Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns, Putnam and Flagler, are not.

I wrote about the gap between FEMA’s emergency declaration and a full major disaster declaration here Saturday, and that gap hasn’t closed. This relief comes from a different agency and it moved faster.

How Much Extra Time Did I Just Get?

The IRS announced it October 14, release FL-2026-07. Anything due on or after October 9, 2026 and before February 8, 2027 now has until February 8, 2027: individual and business returns, estimated tax payments, and payroll and certain excise returns that would’ve landed November 2 or February 1. It’s applied automatically based on the address the IRS has on file. If you’re in one of the 27 counties but your mailing address doesn’t show it, the number to call is 866-562-5227.

Today happens to be the deadline this fixed. If you had a valid extension on your 2025 return, it was due today, October 15. In the 27 counties, it’s now due February 8, 2027 instead.

Does This Cover the Payment I Already Owed?

No, and this is the part that trips people up. The IRS release says plainly that the payment tied to your 2025 return was due April 15, 2026, months before any of this, so that payment isn’t part of the relief. The filing deadline moved. That specific payment didn’t. If you owed on April 15 and haven’t paid it, interest and penalties on that balance have been running the whole time and keep running now.

Can I Deduct Hurricane Damage My Insurance Didn’t Cover?

Possibly, and you get a choice of which year’s return it lands on. The relief lets you claim a casualty loss on the return for the year the damage happened or the year before it, whichever helps more, with up to six months after the return’s due date to make that choice. Form 4684 and IRS Publication 547 walk through how. The loss has to be the part your insurance or anything else didn’t reimburse, and the FEMA number for this declaration, the one that goes on the return, is 3655-EM. This is a tax question with real dollars riding on your own paperwork, which is exactly what a CPA earns their fee on.

What If I’m Already on a Payment Plan With the IRS?

An existing installment agreement doesn’t default just because a payment is missed during this window. But the release is clear that interest and late-payment charges keep building on the balance anyway. The postponement buys you room to not get a letter. It doesn’t buy you a lower balance.

Does This Mean FEMA Help Is Finally Coming?

Not yet, and don’t mix the two up. This relief comes from the IRS, off a FEMA emergency declaration from October 9. A full major disaster declaration, the one that opens individual assistance checks and triggers the automatic FHA foreclosure pause, still hasn’t happened. FEMA’s own page for this storm still reads the way it did when I checked it here Saturday: if and when assistance is approved, it’ll be posted there. The tax clock moved on its own, six days before any FEMA money did.

Why This Matters If You’re Behind Right Now

If you’re already behind on a mortgage with storm damage stacked on top of it, you’re being asked for money by three or four parties at once, and they’re not moving at the same speed. One of them, the IRS, just gave you until February without you asking. The other one, FEMA, the one most people are actually waiting on, hasn’t moved at all. Knowing which clock actually stopped is the difference between paying the right bill first and guessing.

This is tax law, so your own numbers, your own county and your own paperwork decide what any of this does for you. A CPA or an enrolled agent signs off on that, not me.

In other news, the Mortgage Bankers Association just told its own members not to count on rates dropping next year.

Should I Wait for Rates to Drop Before I Sell My House?

Maybe not for the reason you’re hoping. The trade group that represents the lenders is forecasting the 30 year mortgage sitting above 7 percent for all of 2027, not below it.

What Did the MBA Actually Forecast?

At its annual convention in Chicago on October 11, the Mortgage Bankers Association released its 2027 forecast: the 30 year averaging 7.3 percent in the fourth quarter of this year and staying above 7 percent through next year. MBA chief economist Mike Fratantoni said rates are likely to ease off their recent highs “but will remain on a higher path than previously forecasted.” The group also expects refinance lending to drop another 17 percent next year, to 571 billion dollars, with total mortgage originations down 5 percent.

What Does That Mean for Refinancing My Way Out?

It gets harder, not easier. A plan built around waiting for rates to fall and refinancing into something affordable depends on a window the people who actually do the lending are now forecasting to shrink, not grow. That’s a forecast, not a fact, and it’s one lender who decides what happens with any specific loan. But it’s worth knowing that the trade group representing the industry just told its own members the refinance window gets smaller next year, not bigger.

What Is the MBA Saying About People Falling Behind?

Marina Walsh, who heads MBA’s industry analysis, said in the same release that “both delinquencies and foreclosures are higher than they were a year ago,” and pointed to government loans specifically. She also named student loans, credit cards and auto loans as debts where delinquency has been climbing. Her phrase for what that adds up to is “homeowner financial distress, exacerbated by stretched affordability.”

That reads like one household sliding, not four separate categories of people. The car usually goes first because it can be repossessed. The credit card goes next because nobody loses a house over a card balance. The mortgage goes last, because it’s the thing people protect the longest. The MBA is now saying out loud that the order is moving.

Why This Matters If You’re Thinking About Waiting

The most common plan for somebody behind on a mortgage is to wait it out: hold on, hope rates drop, refinance into something that fits. The trade group for the lenders themselves just forecast that plan getting harder, not easier, for all of next year. Nobody can tell you whether to sell, hold or refinance. That’s your call, and it depends on numbers only you have. But a plan that leans on rates dropping soon leans on the mortgage industry being wrong about its own forecast.

Jacksonville, Florida is my market, and distressed property is the bulk of what crosses my desk. Happy to talk through where either of these lands for you.

JimArmstrong904@gmail.com, or (904) 671-4161 if a call’s easier.

Jim Armstrong, REALTOR® · Momentum Realty · SFR® (Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource) certified. This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice.

Momentum Realty is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender.