This week, Florida Republican U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and U.S Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Scott Franklin, Anna Paulina-Luna and Bill Posey and U.S. Rep. Jenniffer González-Colón, R-PR, sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to support their “Hurricane Tax Relief Act” and encourage its passage, which would provide disaster-loss tax relief to families impacted by Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona in 51 Florida counties and Puerto Rico.
Scott led the letter and his office offered some of the details of the proposal.
“The Hurricane Tax Relief Act would make Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona qualified disasters for purposes of enhanced disaster casualty loss tax relief. This bill modifies the deduction for personal casualty losses in the hurricane disaster areas, waiving the requirements for impacted taxpayers to itemize deductions and to have losses that exceed 10 percent of adjusted gross income. Congress previously extended this tax relief for Hurricanes Irma, Wilma, Dorian, and Michael, among others,” Scott’s office noted.
The letter is below:
Last week marked six months since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Southwest Florida, devastating so many communities, families and businesses throughout the state. With assistance from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Small Business Administration (SBA) and countless organizations, in concert with state and local officials, Floridians have worked incredibly hard to recover over the past six months, but there’s so much more work to do.
As families in Florida and Puerto Rico keep working to fully rebuild their lives, homes and communities, Congress must take the same important action it has after previous storms to provide tax relief for families in impacted areas. The last thing families should have to worry about as they recover from devastating storms like Ian, Nicole and Fiona is a big tax bill. Earlier this month, we introduced legislation, the Hurricane Tax Relief Act, which would provide disaster-loss tax relief to families in 51 Florida counties and Puerto Rico impacted by Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona by designating Hurricanes Ian, Nicole and Fiona qualified disasters for purposes of enhanced disaster casualty loss tax relief. It also modifies the deduction for personal casualty losses in the hurricane disaster areas.
Past Congresses and administrations have supported such relief for Hurricanes Irma, Wilma, Dorian, and Michael, among others, in a bipartisan manner with overwhelming support, and now must do the same for those impacted by Hurricanes Ian, Nicole, and Fiona. This can and should be done as soon as possible and without controversy, as it has been done many times before.
We strongly urge you to issue a statement in support of this legislation. This critical bill will provide relief to the hardworking families who have been impacted by these devastating storms.
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