The IRS has announced special tax relief for residents of 63 counties in

five states - Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee - who were affected by severe storms and tornadoes on November 10, 2002.

All of the counties except those in Georgia and two in Mississippi -

Columbus and Crawford - are Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas.

The IRS has granted the following relief: -Affected taxpayers with returns originally due between Nov. 10, 2002 and Jan. 10, 2003, have until Jan. 10, 2003, to file.

Affected taxpayers that have a tax payment due between Nov. 10, 2002 and Jan.10, 2003, have until Jan. 10, 2003, to pay.

Affected taxpayers in the Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas only that had received an extension of time to file that falls between Nov. 10, 2002 and Jan. 10, 2003, have additional time to file until Jan. 10, 2003.

Affected taxpayers who receive additional time to file or pay will not owe penalties for failure to file or pay from Nov. 10, 2002, to Jan. 10, 2003. In addition, those in the Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas will not owe interest during this time.

Although the IRS does not grant additional time to make deposits of employment and excise taxes, it will consider requests for abatement of the failure to deposit penalty, based on reasonable cause, for deposits due between Nov. 10, 2002, and Jan. 10, 2003, on a case-by-case basis.

The filing extension to Jan. 10, 2003, also applies to Form 5500 series returns in the Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas that were required to be filed between Nov. 10, 2002, and Jan. 10, 2003. When using this extension, check box D in Part 1 of Form 5500 during tax preparation and attach a statement according to the form's instructions.