Hurricane Isaias Hit My House. Do I Still Have to File My Taxes on Time?

If your county’s one of 27 on a federal list, no, not by the original date. The IRS pushed the deadline to February 8, 2027. Of the seven counties I work in Northeast Florida, only one of them, Baker, made that list.

Which Florida Counties Got the Extension?

The IRS announced the relief October 14 in notice FL-2026-07, tied to Hurricane Isaias, which the notice dates to October 9. The 27 counties are Baker, Bay, Calhoun, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton and Washington. Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau, Putnam and Flagler, the rest of my footprint, aren’t on it.

What Actually Moves to February 8, 2027?

Most federal returns and payments that would otherwise be due between October 9, 2026 and February 8, 2027. That covers individual, corporate, estate and trust, partnership, S corporation, gift, and exempt organization information returns, along with certain employment and excise returns. Estimated income tax payments due on or after October 9 get the same extra time, and so does quarterly payroll and certain excise tax returns normally due November 2, 2026 and February 1, 2027. If you already had a valid extension on your 2025 return, the new filing deadline covers you too.

There’s a narrower piece of relief folded in with it. Payroll and excise tax deposits that were due between October 9 and October 26, 2026 won’t be penalized, as long as they were actually made by October 26.

What Doesn’t Move?

A few things stay on their original schedule. Information returns in the W-2, 1099, 1095, 1098, 1097 and 1094 series aren’t covered, and neither are most employment and excise tax deposits outside that October 26 window. Payments on a 2025 return that were already due back on April 15, 2026 aren’t covered either. And if you’re on an existing IRS installment agreement, a payment you miss during this window won’t put you in default, but interest and the late payment penalty keep running the whole time.

Can I Deduct the Storm Damage Itself?

That’s a separate piece from the filing deadline, and it’s the one with real money attached. The IRS lets affected taxpayers elect to claim a disaster-related casualty loss on either the 2026 return or the 2025 return, whichever works out better. Individuals can deduct personal property losses that insurance or other reimbursement didn’t cover. The election window runs up to six months past the original due date of the 2026 return, before extensions. Form 4684 and IRS Publication 547 are where the actual mechanics live, and the return has to carry the disaster declaration number, 3655-EM, for any of this to apply. That same number also gets your fee waived if you need copies of old returns on a 4506 or 4506-T.

I’m not a CPA, and this is exactly the kind of thing worth running past one before you file either way.

Does This Pause My Mortgage Too?

No, and that number, 3655-EM, is the reason why. The “EM” means FEMA issued an emergency declaration for Isaias, not a Major Disaster Declaration. I wrote on October 18 that the automatic 90-day FHA foreclosure pause only starts once FEMA moves to that bigger step, and as of this morning FEMA hadn’t. The IRS notice is the first federal document to actually print the declaration number, which settles it with a fact instead of an absence. A tax deadline moving and a mortgage payment coming due are two different clocks, run by two different agencies, and this storm has only moved one of them so far.

Why This Matters If You’re Rebuilding and Behind

A missed roof repair, an insurance fight and a tax deadline landing in the same month is a lot to carry at once. One of those three just got nearly four months of breathing room, for one county out of my seven. The casualty loss election is the part that can put real money back in reach, even on damage insurance never paid for. None of it changes what’s owed on a mortgage, and none of it decides anything about your own house. Those are still your calls to make, with your own numbers in front of you.

In other news, a new county-level report out of South Florida puts an actual number on how far condo prices have to move before they sell.

My Condo Won’t Sell. How Much Do I Have to Drop the Price?

In Broward County right now, the answer sitting in September’s closed sales is about 7 cents on the dollar off the original list price. That’s not a Jacksonville number, it’s Broward’s, but it’s the clearest read available on what condo sellers are actually settling for.

What Happened to Broward Condo Prices in September?

MIAMI REALTORS released Broward’s September figures October 16. The median condo sale price came in at $235,000, down 14.55 percent from $275,000 a year earlier. Sales fell 12.54 percent to 824 closings, and there’s 10.2 months of supply sitting on the market. Condo sellers are getting 93 percent of their original list price on average, and it’s taking a median 69 days to get a contract and 105 days to close, both a little faster than a year ago. More than half of those closings, 54.7 percent, were cash. Active condo listings sit at 9,582, down 12 percent from 10,894 a year ago.

How Does That Compare to Houses in the Same County?

Single family homes in Broward went the other way in the same month. Median price $641,500, up 2.39 percent. Only 4.2 months of supply. Sellers getting 96 percent of original list, with a contract in 39 days and a closing in 77. Same county, same month, same publisher, two different markets.

Why Is the Gap This Wide?

MIAMI REALTORS’ chief economist, Gay Cororaton, pointed to mortgage rates: “We are continuing to see the negative impact of soaring mortgage rates on homebuyers.” I wrote about a similar split statewide on October 17, condo prices down while houses rose, same month, same report. Broward’s version of that gap runs wider than the state’s, and it’s a different county with its own numbers. Distressed sales, foreclosures and short sales together, were still only 1.1 percent of Broward’s closed sales, split 0.3 percent short sale and 0.8 percent REO. Whatever’s driving the condo discount, it isn’t a wave of forced sales.

Why This Matters If You Owe More Than Your Condo Is Worth

Ninety three cents on the original dollar, with ten months of competing supply, is a real number for how far a Broward condo might have to move before it actually sells. A price cut at that level isn’t a loss of nerve, it’s what the closed sales in that county are already doing. Where the real problem is the gap between what the unit brings and what’s owed, that’s a different conversation than price, a short sale one, and it still needs the lender’s sign off either way.

I work out of Jacksonville, Florida, and distressed property is most of what crosses my desk. If either one of these is close to your own situation, I’m easy to reach.

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.