The Department of Finance and Administration announced today that taxpayers in 52 counties declared state disaster areas due to damages caused by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding will be provided special tax relief. The Department is extending the deadline for taxpayers who reside or have a business in the disaster areas to file and pay any tax due on their individual or corporate income tax returns until August 15, 2008.

Affected Counties. The affected counties are: Arkansas, Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Crawford, Craighead, Cross, Faulkner, Fulton, Garland, Greene, Hot Springs, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lawrence, Lee, Logan, Lonoke, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Monroe, Nevada, Newton, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, St. Francis, Saline, Scott, Searcy, Sharp, Stone, Van Buren, Washington, White, Woodruff, and Yell.

In addition the Department will waive the failure to file, failure to pay, and interest charges for businesses unable to make withholding deposits for tax payments due April 3, 2008 to May 27, 2008 because of the recent storms, tornadoes, and flooding.

When claiming the special extension on a 2007 State income tax return payment document, please write “Disaster Storms” on the front of the mailing envelope and on the top left corner of the income tax form. This helps speed-up processing of your return. If you receive a notice of penalties and interest, call (501) 682-1100 to request relief. You can find more information on the DFA website at:

http://www.arkansas.gov/dfa/dfa_taxes.html.