Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019
This bill allows various tax credits, tax deductions, and modifications to existing rules for individuals and businesses affected by certain federally declared disasters that began after January 1, 2018, and before the enactment of this bill.
With respect to individuals and businesses in the affected areas, the bill
waives the 10% additional tax on certain early distributions from retirement plans,
permits individuals to recontribute funds to retirement plans if the funds were distributed for a home purchase that was cancelled on account of a disaster,
increases the limit and extends the repayment deadline for loans from retirement plans,
allows an employee retention tax credit for employers affected by disasters,
temporarily suspends the limitation on tax deductions for charitable contributions for relief efforts in disaster areas,
modifies the rules for the deduction for personal casualty losses,
allows taxpayers residing in disaster areas to use earned income from the immediately preceding year for the purpose of determining earned income for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit, and
automatically extends tax filing deadlines for taxpayers who have a principal residence or place of business located in a disaster area.
The bill also requires the Department of the Treasury to make payments to certain U.S. possessions to either compensate for revenue lost due to specified provisions in the bill or allow residents to benefit from the provisions.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 9, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 9, 2019: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Tom Rice (R-SC) introduced it on April 9, 2019, and 3 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 9, 2019, 2711 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2711 days ago, on April 9, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers