The Internal Revenue Service is granting tax relief for taxpayers in southern and central Texas after record-breaking May storms left a dozen counties under water.

Taxpayers and businesses in Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Fort Bend, Grimes, Hidalgo, Hood, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Travis, Waller and Washington counties can qualify for the relief measures.

The action allows the IRS to push back deadlines for taxpayers in the affected counties to Oct. 17. This includes the June 15 and Sept. 15 deadlines for quarterly estimated tax payments, the 2015 corporate and partnership tax returns on extension through Sept. 15, and the Aug. 1 deadlines for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns.

In addition, the failure-to-deposit penalties for employment and excise tax deposits due on May 26 have been waived by the IRS, as long as the deposits were made by June 10.

Taxpayers who get a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS with a payment or deposit date within the postponement period should call the phone number on their printed notice to have the penalty adjusted.

For most taxpayers, residency within an affected county – or owning a business in one of the affected counties – is all that is necessary to qualify for the IRS relief. However, if a taxpayer or business outside the immediate disaster area seeks to claim the relief measures, they should call the IRS Disaster Hotline at 866-562-5227.