Thursday, May 28
Posted 2 p.m. EST
The 2009 hurricane season officially starts June 1. That's next week! Where has this year gone?
I hope residents of two coastal states are a little more on top of things, or they could miss out on some storm-related preparation help from their tax officials.
Virginia's seven-day hurricane sales-tax holiday, as I noted last week, kicked off Memorial Day weekend, but it's wrapping up Sunday, May 31.
If you haven't finished your storm-related shopping, the Virginia Department of Taxation has a special Web page with more information, including a list of tax-exempt items.
The Old Dominion even has gone all social media, producing a video of its mascot, Phil Mousepower -- he was created to urge taxpayers to use mouse power and file online -- doing his hurricane sales-tax holiday shopping.
Louisiana on board, too: Meanwhile, along the Gulf Coast, Louisiana's annual hurricane sales-tax holiday weekend is May 30-31.
During the two-day holiday, Louisianans don't have to pay sales tax on the first $1,500 spent on necessary storm supplies. That $1,500 figure is for each item, not your total sales-tax holiday weekend expenditure.
The state is exempting a wide variety of products, including generators and shutters, which could push (or pass) the price limit, depending on how fancy you want to get, to flashlights and candles, or, as the state calls them, "self-powered lights."
The Louisiana Department of Revenue has put together an announcement (PDF format) with more details on eligible storm-related purchases.
More tax help from the feds: Let's hope the latest prediction for the 2009 hurricane season is correct. The forecasters in Colorado (yeah, I think it's weird, too, that guys in a landlocked state are making hurricane predictions) at first called for a busier-than-normal season.
But now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says things should be "near normal," with nine to 14 named storms.
Of course, as the weather forecasters say, if there's just one land-falling hurricane and it hits your hometown, then it's a bad hurricane season. So every coastal resident, even those who aren't getting a hurricane sales tax holiday, should get ready just in case.
And if you are in the path of a tropical storm or hurricane this year, remember that the IRS offers you a way to recoup some of those losses.
Taxpayers who itemize can deduct casualty losses, defined by the IRS as "the damage, destruction or loss of property from an identifiable event that is sudden, unexpected or unusual."
In the case of a major disaster, you might even get tax help from Uncle Sam sooner. Here's hoping you don't need that special assistance, but, as I've been saying, it never hurts to be prepared.