National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017
This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief for federally-declared disasters in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. For individuals and businesses located in or investing in the affected areas, the bill allows:
expensing of certain disaster expenses,
increased deductions for charitable contributions for disaster relief,
modifications to rules regarding the deduction of losses attributable to disasters,
waivers of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements,
an extension of the additional depreciation allowance for business property (bonus depreciation),
an increased new markets tax credit limitation,
penalty-free distributions from retirement plans,
an additional tax exemption for individuals who are displaced,
an exclusion from gross income for certain cancellations of indebtedness,
a modified rule for determining the earned income of individuals for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit,
an increased rehabilitation tax credit for buildings,
additional advance refundings of certain tax-exempt bonds,
disaster area recovery bonds,
additional low-income housing tax credit allocations,
payments of disaster assistance to tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies without affecting their tax-exempt status,
an exclusion from gross income for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments,
a deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund,
a five-year replacement period for property for purposes of the exclusion of gain from an involuntary conversion,
a tax credit for a portion of the wages paid to employees, and
an enhanced deduction for medical expenses.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 5, 2017. 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 September 5, 2017: 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 115th Congress (2017-18), 442 of the 11,421 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.9 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 Reed (R-NY) introduced it on September 5, 2017, and 9 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 6 Democrats, 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 September 5, 2017, 3292 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 3292 days ago, on September 5, 2017.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 115th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2019 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