National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017

National Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2017

This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide tax relief for federally-declared disasters in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. For individuals and businesses located in or investing in the affected areas, the bill allows:

• expensing of certain disaster expenses,
• increased deductions for charitable contributions for disaster relief,
• modifications to rules regarding the deduction of losses attributable to disasters,
• waivers of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements,
• an extension of the additional depreciation allowance for business property (bonus depreciation),
• an increased new markets tax credit limitation,
• penalty-free distributions from retirement plans,
• an additional tax exemption for individuals who are displaced,
• an exclusion from gross income for certain cancellations of indebtedness,
• a modified rule for determining the earned income of individuals for the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit,
• an increased rehabilitation tax credit for buildings,
• additional advance refundings of certain tax-exempt bonds,
• disaster area recovery bonds,
• additional low-income housing tax credit allocations,
• payments of disaster assistance to tax-exempt mutual ditch or irrigation companies without affecting their tax-exempt status,
• an exclusion from gross income for disaster mitigation payments received from state and local governments,
• a deduction for payments to a tax-exempt natural disaster fund,
• a five-year replacement period for property for purposes of the exclusion of gain from an involuntary conversion,
• a tax credit for a portion of the wages paid to employees, and
• an enhanced deduction for medical expenses.