(a) Yes? (b) No?

(a) Yes.

Okay, I really had to stretch for this question. I was going to post it in the winter but we had yet another Snow Day. For those that don’t know, a “Snow Day” is an unofficial holiday in Canada when the weather is so bad that government services are closed and also many businesses are closed due to inclement weather. I should probably word the question, “Can weather have an impact on your taxes? Yes, it can. Especially Natural Disaster strength weather.

Here are some examples. In the USA, you can have “Tax Relief in Disaster Situations” for example, affected taxpayers in a federally-declared disaster area have the option of claiming disaster-related casualty losses on their federal income tax return for either the year in which the event occurred or the prior year. See Publication 547 for details.

In Canada, the tax deadlines have been extended due to ice storms and floods, for example, but rarely is there a special deduction or allowance provided. Individual taxpayers can apply to have penalties removed if they can prove that a natural disaster impeded their ability to file on time or pay on time.