[13961]
September 18, 2001
TO: TAX MEMBERS No. 22-01
PENSION MEMBERS No. 28-01
ACCOUNTING/TREASURERS MEMBERS No. 23-01
TRANSFER AGENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 64-01
RE: TREASURY/IRS RELIEF ON ACCOUNT OF SEPTEMBER 11 TERRORIST ATTACK
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have made four
announcements regarding relief for taxpayers on account of the September 11, 2001 terrorist
attack. Each of these announcements -- News Release 2001-79, News Release 2001-81, Notice
2001-61 and Notice 2001-63 -- is attached to this memorandum.
Tax Relief for All Taxpayers -- Notice 2001-63
Notice 2001-63 provides generally that the due date for all federal tax obligations falling
between September 10 and September 24, 2001 is postponed until September 24, 2001. This
blanket extension for federal tax obligations does not apply, however, to deposits of federal
taxes; nevertheless, as provided in Notice 2001-61, the IRS will waive the addition to tax for
failure to timely make any deposit of tax, required to be made from September 11, 2001 through
October 31, 2001, if the deposit is made on or before November 15, 2001 because reasonable
cause for the failure exists during this period.1
Tax Relief for “Affected” Taxpayers -- Notice 2001-61 and the News Releases
Additional tax relief is provided for, among others, the following three groups of
taxpayers:
(1) taxpayers resident within the “covered disaster area” -- (a) the New York counties of
Bronx, Kings, New York (boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan), Queens, and
Richmond, as well as (b) Arlington County, Virginia;
(2) other taxpayers -- regardless of where they reside -- (a) who are victims of the four
plane crashes (including those on the planes and on the ground); (b) who are assisting in
1 This relief is only applicable to taxpayers who are unable to meet their deposit obligations because their (or their
service provider’s) records, computers, or other essential supporting services were damaged, or essential personnel
were injured, by the attack.
2
the relief efforts at the crash sites; (c) who have a place of employment located within the
covered disaster area; or (d) whose records necessary to meet a filing or paying deadline
are maintained in the covered disaster area; and
(3) taxpayers (not covered under one of the above two categories) who have difficulty
meeting their federal tax obligations because of disruptions in the transportation and
delivery of documents by mail or private delivery services resulting from the terrorist
attack.
The tax relief provided to the first two categories of taxpayers is broad. Among other
things: the time for filing 2000 federal individual income tax returns for those with extensions to
file after September 10, 2001 is postponed until February 12, 2002; similar delays in filing
requirements are provided for taxpayers other than individuals; and the due date for making
any tax year 2001 estimated tax payment originally due on or after September 11, 2001 and
before January 15, 2002 is postponed until January 15, 2002. In addition, IRS News Release
2001-81 provides that the IRS will suspend for six months many enforcement activities, such as
levies, seizures and summonses, for these taxpayers.
The tax relief provided to the third category of taxpayers is limited to extending until
November 15, 2001 the obligation to file returns and make payments required to be made from
September 11, 2001 through October 31, 2001.
Keith Lawson
Senior Counsel
Attachments
Note: Not all recipients receive the attachments. To obtain copies of the attachments to which this memo refers,
please call the ICI Library at (202) 326-8304 and request the attachments for memo 13961. ICI Members may retrieve
this memo and its attachments from ICINet (http://members.ici.org).
Attachment no. 1 (in .pdf format)