IRS’s Expert Tips for Protecting Records from Natural Disasters

The Internal Revenue Service recently released best practices for document management – including specific steps you can take to manage important documents.

The IRS released the tips as part of National Hurricane Preparedness Week (in early May) and National Wildfire Awareness Month (all of May):

With tax season over and peak periods for disasters approaching, now is a good time for taxpayers to think about protecting important tax and financial information as part of a disaster emergency plan.

To help, here are the IRS’s expert tips for protecting important records from natural disasters.

Make Copies of Important Documents

This tip may seem obvious, but many homeowners don’t follow it.

You should have a copy of things like:

• Birth certificates
• Social Security cards
• Marriage certificates
• Land ownership documents
• Vehicle titles

You don’t need a professional scanner to create copies of these documents. Use free mobile scanning apps. With modern smartphone cameras, these apps create copies that are virtually indistinguishable from the originals. Popular mobile scanning apps include Genius Scan, the Apple Notes app, CamScanner, Google Drive, and Office Lens.

Protect Documents with Secondary Locations and Disaster-Proof Storage

Making copies is good. But those copies don’t help if they’re stored at home next to the originals.

The IRS recommends protecting documents with strategies like:

• Store copies in secondary locations – like a safe deposit box or with a trusted person (like a friend, parent, or sibling) who lives in a different area
• Store originals and/or copies in a fireproof, waterproof place – like a high-end safe
• Store scanned versions of documents on a flash drive or with a reputable cloud service provider (OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive, for example)

Keep Records of High-Value Items

Many homeowners assume insurance covers everything. That’s only true if you have proof of the loss.

Let’s say you have a $5,000 engagement ring. Typically, homeowners insurance has a per-item limit of around $1,000. To receive compensation around this amount, you need an endorsement and proof that you owned that item.

Insurers may require proof of high-value items before you receive compensation. You may need to provide photos, receipts, and other documents proving you own the item.

You don’t need a formal spreadsheet. Instead, the IRS recommends using your phone to create a simple list with photos or videos:

Taxpayers should use cell phones or other mobile devices to make a record of high-value items. A simple list with current photos or videos can help support claims for insurance or tax benefits after a disaster.

In general, you should have before photos of every high-value item in your home (items worth $1,000 or more) – and even any medium-value items ($250 to $1,000). The more videos and photos you have, the easier it is to receive compensation.

Prepare a “Bug Out Binder”

People have bug out bags for emergency situations. Some even have bug out binders.

A bug out binder contains copies of important documents, flash drives with digitized information, and other records you may need to take from your home at short notice.

Some of the items to add to your Bug Out Binder include:

• Copies of IDs, insurance cards, and policies
• A list of emergency contacts
• A flash drive or printed copy of important documents or your home inventory

Reconstruct Records with Help from the IRS

Every day, Americans lose important documents to natural disasters. That’s why IRS.gov has an entire page dedicated to reconstructing records.

Using IRS.gov, you can reconstruct important records – like tax documents – after a loss:

1. Use the IRS.gov Get Transcript tool to get free return transcripts immediately.
2. Businesses can get copies of invoices from suppliers, helping businesses get compensated for loss of commercial property after a disaster.
3. Photos and videos of possessions could be sufficient for making an insurance claim – including original photos and videos of the possessions along with visual evidence of the damaged items.
4. Credit card statements can prove that you purchased an item.
5. Use Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds to determine the fair market value of vehicles. Typically, vehicle damage claims are processed by your auto insurance company – not your home insurance company.
6. Don’t have photos or videos? The IRS even recommends sketching pictures of each room impacted by the disaster. Even a simple image could help ensure you receive adequate compensation after a loss.

Take Advantage of Tax Relief from the IRS After a Disaster

After a natural disaster, the IRS often provides tax relief to impacted homeowners.

After Hurricane Helene in 2024, for example, the IRS delayed federal tax filing across all of North Carolina, giving homeowners two extra weeks to file returns and make payments.

To see tax relief by state and year – and to see if your latest natural disaster qualifies for relief – visit the IRS’s Tax Relief in Disaster Situations page.

In the first half of 2025, the IRS offered tax relief for the January 2025 California wildfires, the February 2025 storms in West Virginia, and the March 2025 winter storms and flooding in Virginia, while also announcing the extension for tax relief for various states from 2024 disasters (North Carolina storm victims from Hurricane Helene, for example, have until September 25 to file certain taxes).

After a natural disaster, the last thing you want to worry about is taxes. Surprisingly, the IRS (sometimes) helps out.

It Takes Seconds to Lose Everything

As public adjusters, we’ve seen firsthand how much stress and delay can result when homeowners don’t have documentation ready.

From floods to house fires to hurricanes, it takes only seconds to lose everything.

Protecting life is most important. However, a few basic steps today can protect important documents in the future – and save you hours of hassle after a stressful loss.

Stephanie Corona

Stephanie is a property insurance claim expert with over 20 years of experience working as an insurance adjuster, expert witness, appraiser and umpire. She is passionate about sharing her expertise, knowledge, tips and training to help both property owners and Public Adjusters in their pursuit of effectively managing claims and recovering the claim settlement they deserve after a loss.