The IRS reminds all American taxpayers that their emergency plans should also include all their tax information. The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1, 2025, and will continue through November 30, 2025. Since a hurricane may affect your area, it is important to review or create an emergency preparedness plan.
As a matter of fact, the IRS claims that this emergency preparedness plan must include all the necessary steps to protect your tax-related information. This will be useful if you need to file your 2024 or 2025 tax return to collect a tax refund. Remember that the average refund so far is $3,034, so many taxpayers can collect a great direct deposit.
IRS tips to prepare for a disaster
This essential information will be useful whether you are a single taxpayer or you are the owner of a business, claims the IRS. In the first place, you should safeguard all your records:
- W-2s.
- tax returns.
- other tax documents.
Why not take advantage of paperless recordkeeping for financial and tax records? As a matter of fact, millions of taxpayers receive bank statements and other essential documents by e-mail every month.
Actually, having all your records in your online mailbox will be really helpful if there is a natural disaster. What is more, if you receive these documents by mail and they are on paper, you can also scan them.
This scanning will allow you to have all your records in an electronic format. So, make sure you back up your electronic files in a safe place. Either having duplicates or storing them in a different location can also help.
IRS tips when choosing the location to store them
Once you have made electronic copies of all your essential documents, you will need to find a safe place to store your paper documents. Do not store essential records only in your house.
It would be wise to store copies in any trusted out-of-town location. Take, for example, your parents if they are living in a different town or State. Another possibility is to make use of a safety deposit box in a completely different geographic area in the U.S.
This will be useful when a natural disaster affects a whole geographical area. The IRS offers the possibility of using a disaster loss workbook for both individuals and businesses.
Any of these publications, Publication 584, Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Loss Workbook, or Publication 584-B, Business Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Loss Workbook, will definitely come in handy to compile a room-by-room list of belongings or equipment.
Make photos and videos of the most valuable items in your possession. In fact, this will help you recall and prove you had them when you need insurance and casualty loss claims after a natural disaster.
