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Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 16, 2015
National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2015
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief for disasters declared in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 by:
allowing an election to expense qualified disaster expenses (i.e., for the abatement of hazardous substances, removal of debris, demolition, and repair of business-related property);
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
increasing the tax deduction for charitable contributions for disaster relief for individual and corporate taxpayers;
allowing through 2015 the deduction of losses and net operating losses attributable to disasters;
allowing waivers of requirements relating to mortgage revenue bonds;
extending through 2015 the additional allowance for depreciation of business property (bonus depreciation);
allowing an increase through 2015 of the new markets tax credit limitation amount within a federally-declared disaster area;
permitting the use of tax-exempt retirement plan funds in federally-declared disasters without penalty;
allowing an additional tax exemption for individuals who are displaced as a result of a federally-declared disaster;
allowing an exclusion from gross income of imputed income from the cancellation of indebtedness resulting from federally-declared disasters;
providing a special rule to allow individuals affected by a disaster in 2012, 2013, 2014, or 2015 to claim a full earned income tax credit;
increasing the rehabilitation tax credit for buildings affected by a federally-declared disaster;
permitting one additional advance refunding of a tax-exempt bond that is outstanding on the date on which a federally-declared disaster occurs;
allowing the issuance of qualified disaster area recovery bonds;
allowing an additional allocation of the low-income housing tax credit in 2016 to states affected by a federally-declared disaster occurring in 2012, 2013, 2014, or 2015;
allowing payments of disaster assistance to tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies without affecting their tax-exempt status;
allowing an exclusion from gross income for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments;
allowing a tax deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund;
allowing a five-year replacement period for property located in a disaster area for purposes of the exclusion of gain from an involuntary conversion;
allowing employers a business-related tax credit for up to 40% of wages paid to employees in a disaster area; and
allowing an enhanced tax deduction for medical expenses related to an injury occurring in a disaster area.
People & committees
Sen. Vitter, David [R-LA] · R–LA
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Dec 10, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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