Advocacy Alert: Disaster relief bill passes Senate, heads to President Biden's desk

By FICPA Governmental Affairs

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday unanimously passed the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act (H.R. 5863), which will designate a series of presidentially-declared disasters as qualified disaster events.

The legislation, originally introduced by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL), passed the U.S. House in May of this year, 382-7, following a highly uncommon discharge petition, which saw the bill bypass committee review and proceed directly to the House floor for a vote after receiving the backing of 218 members of Congress.

The bill now awaits President Joe Biden's signature.

“More than two years ago, Hurricane Ian decimated my district," Rep. Steube said in a statement. "Due to inaction by Congress, millions of Americans have missed out on the disaster tax deductions that are typically available after presidentially-declared disasters. Since then, I’ve fought to deliver tax relief for not only my constituents – but for the many Americans impacted by natural disasters across the country. Floridians have compounded damage and rebuilding expenses from five hurricanes since Ian, including three back-to-back hurricanes this season. I promised to fight for full hurricane recovery for my district as long as it takes. Today, Congress delivered on my promise. I applaud the Senate for putting this relief within arms reach for Floridians – we’re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in Floridians’ pockets thanks to my legislation. I expect President Biden will recognize the great impact my legislation will have on America’s families and sign my legislation into law.”

Per a release from Rep. Steube's office: 

[The] legislation designates that Hurricane Ian and other hurricanes including Hurricanes Idalia, Nicole, Fiona, Debby, Helene, and Milton should be treated as qualified disaster events for purposes of determining the tax treatment of certain disaster-related personal casualty losses. The legislation will cover any potential major disasters occurring up to 6 months after the President’s signature.

The legislation would allow Americans who were subjected to damages from hurricanes and other federally declared disasters to claim such losses without itemizing such deductions. Moreover, such losses would not have to exceed 10% of a claimant’s adjusted gross income to qualify.

Additionally, the bill excludes from taxpayer gross income, for income tax purposes, any amount received by an individual taxpayer as compensation for expenses or losses incurred due to a qualified wildfire disaster (a disaster declared after 2014 as a result of a forest or range fire). It also excludes relief payments for losses resulting from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment on February 3, 2023.

The FICPA commends Rep. Steube and Sen. Rick Scott for advancing this legislation and successfully securing much-needed disaster-relief for Floridians. 

We will follow-up with additional communications when the bill is signed into law.