WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that it is waiving certain limitations for projects financed with low-income housing tax credits or exempt facility bonds so that owners and operators of these facilities anywhere in the nation can provide housing to victims of severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in Colorado that began Sept. 11.

Because of the widespread devastation to housing caused by storms and flooding, the IRS will temporarily suspend certain limitations for qualified low-income housing projects that house people displaced by the storms and flooding. The action will expand the availability of housing for disaster victims and their families. Further details are available in Notice 2013-63 and Notice 2013-64, posted today on IRS.gov.

The IRS recently announced other relief available to affected taxpayers in the presidentially declared disaster area.

WASHINGTON ― The IRS today announced that all empowerment zone designations remain in effect through the end of the year. Empowerment Zones are certain urban and rural areas where employers and other taxpayers qualify for special tax incentives.

In May, the IRS issued Notice 2013-38 to address the relevant provision of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Notice 2013-38 provided that any nomination for an empowerment zone in effect on Dec. 31, 2009, will have a new termination date of Dec. 31, 2013, unless the governing state or municipality declined the extension in a notification to the IRS. The deadline for notification was July 29, 2013, and no state or municipality contacted the IRS to decline the extension. Therefore, all empowerment zone designations in effect on Dec. 31, 2009, remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2013.

Empowerment Zones were created by legislation enacted in 1993, and most zones had an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2009. Subsequent legislation extended the expiration dates to Dec. 31, 2011, and then Dec. 31, 2013.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 did not provide for the extension of the designation for the District of Columbia enterprise zone, and therefore that designation ended on Dec. 31, 2011.

For more information and complete lists of empowerment zone locations, see Form 8844, Empowerment Zone Employment Credit.