Question

Is COVID-19 considered a federally declared natural disaster that was declared before Feb 19, 2020?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
March 31, 2021
1 reply
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I live in California (CA). I checked the FEMA website and COVID-19 was declared a disaster on March 13, 2020 but the incident period was Jan 20, 2020 and continuing. The incident date was before Feb 19, 2020 and the declaration date was after Feb 19, 2020 so I am not certain if it can be considered a federally declared natural disaster before Feb 19, 2020.

TurboTax Self Employed Online

ReneeM7122

Yes, it is true that COVID is considered a Federally Declared Disaster, and TurboTax automatically assists with the Recovery Rebate Credit. There are questions during the interview pertaining to the amount of stimulus that everyone was received. Since COVID affected the entire nation, the stimulus applies in every state.

The question in TurboTax about whether you are affected by a natural disaster pertains to claiming a casualty loss of property due to natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and the like. Your question isn't referring to COVID, since it's already been handled separately and taken into consideration by the software.

Here is an IRS link about disaster relief

And an IRS video for victims of disasters.