Hurricane Sandy Relief Act

While the debates on the fiscal cliff continue, there has been a tax related bill introduced in the Senate. Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have proposed legislation to help taxpayers who have been financially affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Hurricane Sandy Relief Act (not on Thomas yet) was introduced on Dec 9^th.

The bill includes a variety of individual programs for those who are directly affected by Sandy and for the general public. A few of the proposals include:

• Waiving the 50% limit on charitable contributions for qualified disaster contributions.
• Changes to carryback rules for NOLs.
• Reducing the limitations of casualty loss deductions.
• Waiving the 10% early withdrawal penalty on retirement plan by Sandy victims up to a $100,000 withdrawal.
• A credit for employers who keep paying employees while the business isn’t operating.
• Allows the Work Opportunity Credit to be claimed for Sandy employees.
• Increases depreciation to 50% for the first year in Sandy affected areas.
• Allows EIC and Child Tax Credit to be calculated on previous year’s income for people whose 2012 income was affected by Sandy.

These are just a few of the proposals in the bill. All the details can be found in a press release on Senator Schumer’s website.

 

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