Big win here! A taxpayer who lives in NJ was very late with filing his 2023 tax return, and asked me to prepare his tax return so that he can utilize the disaster extension for Israel.

Big win here! A taxpayer who lives in NJ was very late with filing his 2023 tax return, and asked me to prepare his tax return so that he can utilize the disaster extension for Israel. 

Since this disaster extension includes if the accountant resides in Israel, even if the taxpayer is not, this was smart planning on his side - and completely legal. 

His tax bill went down from $55,473 owed to $14,916 owed (a savings of $40,557), using the Israel disaster extension.

An important aspect of this plan was that this disaster extension not only extended the time to file, but also the time to pay, which was a game-changer. 

The IRS did not automatically apply the extension based on the preparer address alone, and had previously sent a bill for the full amount with penalties. 

I had to call the IRS disaster hotline to have them apply the disaster extension. 

This is a great example of out of the box thinking resulting in a great outcome.