Think Your Client Missed the Kwong Deadline? Maybe Not.

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series authored by both Kristin Dodd and Nick Persichetti. View all the articles in this series here: Tax Refund Deadlines and Relief

When the July 10, 2026, protective filing date passed, many practitioners understandably moved Kwong claims into the “too late” column.

That may have been premature.

For taxpayers affected by later federally declared disasters, a July 10, 2026, protective-claim date may still have a supportable alternative extending into 2027. And you do not have to prepare tax returns, or become an expert in Internal Revenue Code Section 7508A, to recognize a client who needs to ask the question.

If a client was affected by a later federally declared disaster, suggest they contact the professional handling their refund claim.

Apparently, one disaster was not enough paperwork.

Why July 10 wasn’t necessarily the end

In Kwong v. United States, the Court of Federal Claims held that the COVID disaster period was disregarded when calculating a taxpayer’s two-year deadline to file a refund suit. Practitioners consequently identified July 10, 2026, as a protective-claim target for pandemic-era payments. The government has appealed Kwong, and the IRS has taken a considerably narrower position in related litigation. So July 10 was absolutely the date practitioners should have targeted.

But Kwong also raised another question: What happens if the taxpayer was affected by another federally declared disaster while that limitations period was still running? That is where the concept practitioners have begun calling “disaster stacking” comes in.

Tax controversy attorney Frank Agostino, president of the Taxpayer Assistance Corporation, has analyzed whether a later disaster-relief period may also be disregarded when calculating a taxpayer’s remaining time. The argument is unsettled, but practitioners should not automatically assume every unfiled claim died July 10.

Hurricane Milton shows why this matters

Hurricane Milton’s federal major-disaster declaration identified October 5, 2024, as the beginning of the incident period. The IRS ultimately gave affected Florida taxpayers until May 1, 2025, to perform many tax-related acts. The narrowest view is that the later disaster does nothing. The taxpayer’s deadline remained July 10, 2026.

A second interpretation applies the mandatory disaster period written into Section 7508A. For Milton, that produces 67 potentially disregarded days and a calculated date of September 15, 2026. That date has now passed, but the broader protective interpretation may still provide an argument for additional time.

But there's another interpretation, and it's the one that could make a real difference for taxpayers who missed July 10. If the entire IRS postponement period is disregarded while the limitations clock is running, Milton provides 209 days. Under that approach, a July 10, 2026, date could move to approximately February 4, 2027.

No court has yet held that the entire later disaster-relief window can be added to a Section 6511 administrative refund-claim period this way. Agostino’s analysis treats this as a supportable protective position, not settled law.

February 4 is not an IRS-announced Kwong deadline; it is a potential protective date under an unsettled theory.

And Milton is only one disaster

Since the pandemic, federally declared disasters have affected communities nationwide, from hurricanes and wildfires to floods and winter storms.

That does not mean every disaster automatically adds more time. Overlapping days cannot simply be counted twice.

Hurricanes do not come with double coupons.

A bookkeeper may remember a hurricane-related closure. A payroll professional may know employees were displaced. An advisor may remember that a client lost access to its records.

You don’t need to calculate the deadline. You need to recognize the question.

How to screen a client without becoming a FEMA historian

The IRS maintains a Tax Relief in Disaster Situations page containing its disaster-relief announcements. FEMA maintains the underlying federal disaster declarations and designated areas.

Confirm the taxpayer’s eligibility, the applicable dates and IRS relief, and whether any disaster periods overlap.

Check the ordinary refund rules first

Section 6511 generally allows a refund claim within three years after a return was filed or two years after the tax was paid, whichever period expires later. A recent installment-agreement payment, levy, refund offset, or voluntary payment may therefore have its own open two-year claim period.

No Kwong. No hurricane calculation. No FEMA rabbit hole required.

Different payments can also have different dates, so they should be reviewed separately.

THE QUICK SCREEN: Check the client’s filing and payment dates. Ask whether the client, or records needed to meet a tax deadline, was in a later federally declared disaster area. If yes, pull the applicable IRS disaster announcement before writing the claim off.

A lesson that outlives Kwong

Kwong may have brought new attention to the interaction between disaster relief and statutes of limitation, but Section 7508A did not disappear when the pandemic ended. Federally declared disasters continue to occur, and taxpayers continue to have limitations periods running when they do.

That means disaster relief deserves a place on the limitations-period checklist going forward, not just for old pandemic claims. The effect depends on the law, the disaster, and the taxpayer. Stacking remains unsettled, but qualifying disaster relief should trigger a second look at limitations calculations.

Current-year deadlines matter, too

Recent hurricanes and other disasters make this more than a pandemic-refund issue. Eligible taxpayers may have additional time under IRS disaster announcements to file current-year returns, make certain payments, or complete other specified tax acts.

But a disaster declaration does not automatically excuse every late return or payment. Relief depends on the designated area, taxpayer eligibility, the original due date, and the acts covered. A filing deadline postponed into the future does not necessarily move a payment deadline that expired before the disaster.

Before telling a client they're late, or accepting an IRS penalty as correct, make sure you've checked whether disaster relief changed their deadline in the first place.

What should you do now?

If you discover a potential pandemic-era penalty or refund claim after July 10, don’t automatically close the file because you think the deadline passed.

First, calculate the taxpayer’s ordinary refund periods. Then ask whether the taxpayer was affected by later qualifying disaster relief while a potentially relevant limitations period was still running. If so, have the IRS announcement, FEMA declaration, and dates analyzed promptly.

You don’t need to determine whether disaster stacking works. You just need to recognize when your client may need someone who can.

The legal theories surrounding Kwong, Abdo, Section 7508A, and later disaster relief are still developing, and the government’s appeal of Kwong means practitioners should not present an alternative date as established law.

For many taxpayers, July 10 was the date to protect the claim. For others, a later disaster may have kept an argument alive, and the next deadline will not wait for the law to catch up.

Author’s note: This article discusses developing legal theories concerning disaster-related limitations periods. Alternative dates discussed are protective positions and should not be treated as IRS-approved filing deadlines. Practitioners should independently verify the applicable statute, disaster declaration, IRS relief announcement, taxpayer eligibility, payment history, and limitations period.