Under the IRS relief, filing and payment deadlines for Louisiana and Texas taxpayers, affected by Hurricane Ike, have been postponed until January 5, 2009. Tax relief is also available to victims of Hurricane Gustav in Louisiana and Mississippi, where certain filing and payment deadlines have also been postponed until January 5, 2009. For more information on the IRS extensions, visit www.irs.gov.

For Michigan income tax purposes, the third quarterly installment of the estimated tax may be made any time on or before January 5, 2009, without penalty and/or interest charges for late payment. An annual income tax return, previously extended to October 15, 2008, may be filed any time before January 5, 2009. Treasury will waive any penalty and/or interest charges for late filing. However, please note that penalty and interest may still be imposed for late payment of the extension payment that was due April 15, 2008. For Michigan Business Tax (MBT) purposes, any fiscal or calendar year payments due during the federal extension period of September 7, 2008, through December 30, 2008, will be considered timely if made by January 5, 2009. To apply for these extensions, taxpayers should mark the affected tax returns (annual return or quarterly payment voucher) with the designation "Hurricane Ike" or "Hurricane Gustav" in red.

The Department of Treasury will not automatically allow an extension to file and pay sales, use and withholding or excise taxes. Treasury may waive, on a case-by-case basis, late filing or payment charges on these deposits if it can be demonstrated that failure to make a timely deposit was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.