Rep. Steube’s legislation extends current law by delivering critical tax relief to Americans impacted by federally declared natural disasters. Under this legislation, victims can deduct qualified casualty losses without having to itemize deductions for federally declared disasters between July 4, 2025 and December 31, 2026. It also ensures certain disaster relief payments are not treated as taxable income.
Extend federal disaster tax relief so victims of federally declared natural disasters can deduct qualified casualty losses without itemizing and exclude certain disaster relief payments from taxable income.
Occurrences
Evidence
On April 30, 2024, W. Gregory Steube filed Discharge Petition No. 11 to discharge the Committee on Rules from H.Res. 961, a resolution providing for consideration of H.R. 5863, the bill to provide tax relief with respect to certain Federal disasters. The petition page shows Steube as sponsor and lists his signature among the signers.
The 2020s section lists P.L. 118-148, the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023, as enacted on 2024-12-12.
Assessments
Steube directly merits full credit. He was the sponsor of H.R. 5863, the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023, introduced on October 2, 2023, and he later filed the April 30, 2024 discharge petition to advance floor consideration. The bill then passed the House on May 21, 2024, passed the Senate on December 4, 2024, and became Public Law 118-148 on December 12, 2024, all while he remained in office during the same federal term. The enacted law matched the claim's core outcome by extending disaster-related casualty loss relief, including allowing eligible taxpayers to claim such losses without itemizing, and by excluding certain disaster relief payments from taxable income.