HR 5863 United States House · 118th Congress

Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023

This bill provides tax relief for individuals affected by specific disasters by excluding certain compensation payments from taxable income. It covers wildfire relief payments for losses incurred in federally declared wildfires after 2014 (including expenses like repairs, lost wages, and emotional distress), and payments related to the February 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment (covering property damage, closing costs, and inconvenience). Payments already covered by insurance or other sources are excluded from this tax benefit. The relief applies to payments received during 2020-2025 for wildfires and from February 2023 onward for the East Palestine incident, with extended deadlines for related tax claims.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Oct 2023

Committee Review

Dec 2024

House Passage

May 2024

Senate Passage

Dec 2024

Signed into Law

Dec 2024

Introduced Oct 2, 2023 Signed Dec 12, 2024

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 4 edits · May 21, 2024

MODERATE

The Engrossed version of HR 5863 broadens the definition of qualified wildfire relief payments to explicitly cover additional living expenses, lost wages, personal injury, death, and emotional distress. It also adds a new provision extending the deadline for filing tax refund claims related to the wildfire payment exclusion, giving taxpayers at least one year after enactment to file. The East Palestine train derailment section received minor corrections including a typo fix and a clarification that the effective date applies to the entire section rather than just a subsection.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'qualified wildfire relief payment' was expanded to explicitly include compensation for additional living expenses, lost wages (excluding employer-paid wages), personal injury, death, and emotional distress, making it clearer what types of payments qualify for the tax exclusion.

TIMELINE

A new subsection (e) extends the period of limitation for filing refund claims related to the wildfire relief payment exclusion. The deadline is extended so it does not expire earlier than one year after enactment, and the normal 3-year/2-year lookback limitation in section 6511(b)(2) is removed entirely.

TECHNICAL

Minor grammatical fix in the qualified wildfire disaster definition ('as a result any' changed to 'as a result of any') and a typo correction in the East Palestine section ('trail' corrected to 'train').

The effective date provision for East Palestine payments was changed from 'This subsection shall apply' to 'This section shall apply,' clarifying that the effective date applies to the entire East Palestine section rather than just one subsection.

Floor votes · House May 21, 2024

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Dec 12, 2024

Signed into law

Signed by President.

executive

Dec 4, 2024

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote. (consideration: CR S6813)

upper

Dec 4, 2024

Upper · Passed

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.

upper

Dec 4, 2024

Upper · Passed

Senate Committee on Finance discharged by Unanimous Consent.

upper

May 22, 2024

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

upper

May 21, 2024

Introduced

On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 382 - 7 (Roll no. 219). (text: CR H3379)

lower

May 21, 2024

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 382 - 7 (Roll no. 219). (text: CR H3379)

lower

May 21, 2024

Introduced

Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.

lower

Jan 16, 2024

Lower · Passed

Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 118-348.

lower

Nov 2, 2023

Introduced

Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 38 - 0.

lower

Nov 2, 2023

Lower · Passed

Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held

lower

Oct 2, 2023

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

lower

Oct 2, 2023

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 35 co-sponsors