Taxpayers in Knox County, Nebraska now have until January 7, 2027 to file various federal returns and make payments after a severe storm tore through the region on September 9, 2026, with wind gusts reaching 98 mph. The Internal Revenue Service announced the relief after Governor Jim Pillen declared a state of emergency for the hard-hit Village of Crofton, where the storm ripped off a residential roof, destroyed a garage, displaced households and knocked down major utility transmission lines.
The IRS relief covers individuals and businesses in the covered disaster area, including people who live in Knox County and businesses, including tax-exempt organizations, whose principal place of business is there, according to Tri-State Livestock News. Relief workers affiliated with recognized government or philanthropic organizations helping in the disaster area also qualify, as do individuals who were visiting Knox County and were killed or injured by the storm. The postponement period covers deadlines falling on or after September 9, 2026 and before January 7, 2027, giving affected taxpayers extra breathing room to file most individual, corporate, estate and trust income, partnership, S corporation, gift, generation-skipping transfer, tax-exempt organization and certain excise tax returns.
How Crofton Ended Up at the Center of a Federal Tax Case
Crofton, a village of roughly 900 residents in northeastern Nebraska, bore the brunt of the September storm's destruction. According to Nebraska Public Media, the storm's 98 mph gusts tore the roof off at least one home, destroyed a garage, displaced households and downed major utility transmission lines, prompting Pillen's state of emergency declaration. Mayor Randy Ausdemore reported the damage, and the declaration authorized use of the Governor’s Emergency Fund.
Rather than wait for a lengthy federal major disaster declaration process, Pillen used a new tool: the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act, enacted as Public Law 119-64 on December 26, 2025. The law lets governors request IRS deadline postponements directly after declaring a state emergency, bypassing the usual wait for Washington to act. Knox County's relief follows a similar pattern set earlier this year, when the station reported the IRS had already granted postponements through February 1, 2027 for taxpayers in 22 other Nebraska counties hit by spring storms and summer wildfires that began between March and June 2026.
What's Postponed and What Still Comes Due
Individuals with a valid extension now have until January 7, 2027 to file their 2025 individual income tax returns, and estimated income tax payments originally due on or after September 9, 2026 are postponed to the same date. Taxpayers can avoid estimated tax installment penalties by paying by January 7. Affected quarterly payroll and certain excise tax returns also get a postponed deadline, moving from November 2, 2026 to January 7, 2027, per the Tri-State Livestock News report. Penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due between September 9 and September 23, 2026 will be abated if those deposits were paid by September 24, 2026.
Not everything gets a pass, though. The relief explicitly excludes tax payments tied to 2025 returns that were originally due on April 15, 2026, meaning those balances remain outside the relief even as other deadlines slide, according to Panhandle News Channel Nebraska. Information returns in the W-2, 1094, 1095, 1097, 1098 or 1099 series are also excluded, along with Forms 1042-S, 3921, 3922 and 8027, unless those forms are specifically listed as eligible under Rev. Proc. 2018-58, which was published December 10, 2018.
A New Law Closes an Old Refund Trap
One of the quieter but more significant pieces of the relief involves how the postponement interacts with refund deadlines. Under Public Law 119-64, a federal tax deadline postponement granted under Internal Revenue Code Section 7508A is now statutorily treated as a formal extension when calculating the limit on claiming a tax refund, according to the Internal Revenue Service. That protects affected Knox County taxpayers from losing out on refund or credit claims simply because their filing window was pushed back by disaster relief, closing a gap that previously put delayed filers at risk of forfeiting money owed to them.
Separately, taxpayers who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed property losses in the disaster area can elect under Internal Revenue Code Section 165(i) to deduct casualty losses on either their 2026 return or an amended 2025 return, the IRS notes. That election can accelerate a refund for storm-damaged households and businesses rather than forcing them to wait until they file next year's taxes. Knox County's economy leans heavily on agriculture, with the USDA Census of Agriculture reporting a total market value of agricultural products sold of $288.49 million in 2017, underscoring why cash-flow timing after a storm can matter to producers managing seasonal operations.
Who Needs to Call the IRS Directly
The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located in the covered disaster area and applies filing and payment relief without any action needed on their part. But taxpayers outside Knox County whose necessary tax records are located within the disaster area must call IRS Special Services at 866-562-5227 to request that their deadlines be postponed too, since the automatic system flags only apply to addresses inside the county. Tax practitioners located in the covered disaster area who maintain necessary records for taxpayers outside it may also contact that line; practitioners with records for 10 or more clients should follow separate bulk-request guidance.
Affected taxpayers who nonetheless receive an automated IRS notice assessing a late filing or late payment penalty for a covered deadline between September 9, 2026 and January 7, 2027 are advised to call the phone number listed on that notice to request penalty abatement.
