ASA Supports Rep. Steube (R-FL)’s Tax Relief Legislation for Hurricane Ian’s Recovering Efforts

ASA supports Rep. Steube (R-FL)’s legislation to provide income tax relief to Americans recovering from Hurricane Ian. The legislation designates Hurricane Ian as a qualified disaster for the purposes of determining tax treatment of certain disaster-related personal casualty losses.  Per. Rep. Steube, “through no fault of their own, Floridians and many other Americans in the Southeast U.S. are now on an expensive road to recovery following Hurricane Ian. Virtually every other recent major hurricane and disasters like the California wildfires have been designated as qualified disasters for tax purposes. The NOAA ranks Hurricane Ian as the third most-costly hurricane in U.S. history.  It’s commonsense that Congress should pass my legislation to designate this horrific storm as a qualified disaster. Congress must do its job and provide much-needed relief to taxpayers so that Floridians can fully recover from this storm and adequately prepare for the next.”

Congressional action is currently needed to designate Hurricane Ian as a qualified disaster. Per the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), if you have a qualified disaster loss you may elect to deduct the loss without itemizing your deductions. Your net casualty loss doesn't need to exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income to qualify for the deduction.

Last year, ASA’s Southwest Florida Chapter in Fort Myers, FL was severely impacted by Hurricane Ian and beyond supporting this legislation, ASA is drafting a natural disaster relief resource to prepare our membership for future disasters.