SECTION 14. DISASTER

PROCEDURES

.01 A taxpayer’s ability to make FTDs and FTPs timely may be affected by the time, severity, and extent of a major disaster. In such circumstances, the Service provides relief through the nonassertion or abatement of certain penalties. The Service publicizes the relief for a particular disaster area through the publication of a News Release, Notice, or Announcement. Generally, the Service identifies the taxpayers who qualify for this disaster relief.

.02 If a disaster affects a Filer, the Filer should provide the Service with the information necessary to identify those FTDs and FTPs of taxpayers outside the disaster area which were or will be late due to the disaster. The Service will then determine if the nonassertion or abatement of certain penalties is appropriate.

.03 In addition, if a Bulk Filer’s primary processing system is affected by a disaster and the Bulk Filer’s backup processing system fails, the Bulk Filer may use an emergency bulk ETA transaction under which the transfer of funds occurs before the transmission of the related payment information.