WASHINGTON, D.C. — More help and less itemizing could be coming for survivors of recent hurricane that hit Southwest Florida.
On Wednesday night, the U.S. House passed H.R. 7024 Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024. The vote passed easily, 357 to 70, with five members not voting.
Included in the resolution is the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2024.
Florida's representatives in the House supported the bill 21-7. All three members who represent parts of Southwest Florida (Republicans Greg Steube, Byron Donalds and Mario Diaz-Balart) voted 'yes'. One noteworthy 'no' vote was Matt Gaetz, an outspoken Republican from the Panhandle.
If this bill becomes law, all federally-declared disasters going back to February 26, 2021 would qualify for relief for property owners who took on damage.
Survivors of these disasters use the IRS form 4684 for relief from these disasters. If this is a qualified disaster, hurricane survivors would be able to take this deduction on top of the standard deduction for their federal taxes.
The current legislation increases the amount survivors can claims and takes away the requirement to itemize deductions.
