fire relief - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

Tax Relief for California Wildfire Victims Moves Closer to Reality

After years of frustrating delays, wildfire victims in California are on the brink of receiving long-awaited tax relief. The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act, which exempts settlement payments for victims of utility-sparked wildfires from federal income taxes. The bill now heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it into law.

What the Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act Does

The new legislation provides key benefits for wildfire survivors, including:

Tax Exemptions: Settlement payments from lawsuits related to utility-caused wildfires will no longer be treated as taxable income.
Casualty Loss Deductions: Affected individuals can deduct losses exceeding $500 without needing to itemize deductions.
Retroactive Relief: The law applies retroactively to payments issued as far back as December 2020.

If you or someone you know has been affected by California wildfires and received a settlement payment, we can help them understand how this new law may impact them. We will continue to monitor and update this story if the President signs it.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2024-12-06T04:27:21+00:00December 6th, 2024|disaster, fire, Fire Relief Info|0 Comments

IRS Provides Tax Relief For Victims Of California Wildfires; Oct. 15 Deadline, Other Dates Extended To Dec. 15

Victims of the California wildfires that began Aug. 14 now have until Dec. 15, 2020 to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

The IRS is offering this relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualifying for individual assistance. Currently this includes Lake, Monterey, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties in California, but taxpayers in localities added later to the disaster area will automatically receive the same filing and payment relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Aug. 14, 2020. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Dec. 15, 2020, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. This means individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2019 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2020, will now have […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:02:01+00:00August 25th, 2020|Blog, business, fire, individuals, irs, New Tax Laws, tax deadlines|0 Comments

California Tax News Related to Wildfires

Tax relief is available for California employers in counties hit by recent wildfires. The CA Employment Development Dept. (EDD) has announced that employers in Butte, Los Angeles and Ventura counties directly affected by the Camp, Hill and Woolsey fires may request up to a 60-day extension of time from the EDD to file their state payroll reports and deposit state payroll taxes without penalty or interest. Written extension requests must be received within 60 days from the original delinquent date of the payment or return.

Due to a presidential disaster declaration, some victims of California’s recent wildfires may qualify for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). DUA provides temporary unemployment assistance to eligible individuals whose work or self-employment has been interrupted due to a major disaster and who also meet certain other conditions. This applies to losses in CA from the Camp, Hill, and Woolsey fires. Eligible persons may receive up to $450 per week for up to 27 weeks. The deadline to file is 12/14/18. If you have any questions, please contact your Linkenheimer CPA. For more info […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:04:26+00:00November 21st, 2018|CA tax, california, disaster|0 Comments