II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1456 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and expand tax 

relief for national disasters. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2011 

Mr. KERRY (for himself and Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend 

and expand tax relief for national disasters. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Disaster Tax Act of 

5 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOSSES ATTRIBUTABLE TO FEDERALLY DECLARED 

7 DISASTERS. 

8 (a) WAIVER OF ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME LIMITA9 TION; INCREASE IN STANDARD DEDUCTION BY DISASTER

10 CASUALTY LOSS.— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1456 IS

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subclause (I) of section 

2 165(h)(3)(B)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

3 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘before January 1, 

4 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘after December 31, 2010’’. 

5 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

6 by this subsection shall apply to disasters declared 

7 in taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010. 

8 (b) INCREASE IN LIMITATION ON INDIVIDUAL LOSS

9 PER CASUALTY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

11 165(h) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

12 amended by striking ‘‘($100 for taxable years begin13 ning after December 31, 2009)’’. 

14 (2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 

15 by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin16 ning after December 31, 2010. 

17 (c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—Clause (i) of section 

18 165(h)(3)(C) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

19 amended by inserting ‘‘major’’ after ‘‘means any’’. 

20 SEC. 3. EXPENSING OF QUALIFIED DISASTER EXPENSES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

22 198A(b)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

23 amended by striking ‘‘before January 1, 2010’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘after December 31, 2010’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1456 IS

1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred after 

3 December 31, 2010, in connection with disasters declared 

4 after such date. 

5 SEC. 4. NET OPERATING LOSSES ATTRIBUTABLE TO FED6 ERALLY DECLARED DISASTERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subclause (I) of section 

8 172(j)(1)(A)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

9 amended by striking ‘‘before January 1, 2010’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘after December 31, 2010’’. 

11 (b) ELIMINATION OF EXCLUSION.—Section 172(j) of 

12 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

13 paragraph (4). 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

15 this section shall apply to losses arising in taxable years 

16 beginning after December 31, 2010, in connection with 

17 disasters declared after such date. 

18 SEC. 5. WAIVER OF CERTAIN MORTGAGE REVENUE BOND 

19 REQUIREMENTS FOLLOWING FEDERALLY DE20 CLARED DISASTERS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)(i) 

22 of section 143(k)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

23 1986, as added by the Tax Extenders and Alternative 

24 Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008, are each amended by 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1456 IS

1 striking ‘‘before January 1, 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘after 

2 December 31, 2010’’. 

3 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to disasters occurring after Decem5 ber 31, 2010. 

6 SEC. 6. INCREASED EXPENSING FOR QUALIFIED DISASTER 

7 ASSISTANCE PROPERTY. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 179(e) 

9 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by in10 serting ‘‘, except that ‘after December 31, 2010’ shall be 

11 substituted for ‘before January 1, 2010’ in subparagraph 

12 (A)(ii)(I) thereof’’ after ‘‘as defined in section 168(n)(2)’’. 

13 (b) ELIMINATION OF EXCLUSION.—Section 

14 168(n)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

15 amended by inserting ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i), by 

16 striking ‘‘, and’’ at the end of clause (ii) and inserting 

17 a period, and by striking clause (iii). 

18 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

19 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

20 December 31, 2010, with respect to disasters declared 

21 after such date. 

22 SEC. 7. INCREASED LIMITATION ON CHARITABLE CON23 TRIBUTIONS FOR DISASTER RELIEF. 

24 (a) INDIVIDUALS.—Paragraph (1) of section 170(b) 

25 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by reVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:56 Aug 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1456.IS S1456

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1456 IS

1 designating subparagraphs (F) and (G) as subparagraphs 

2 (G) and (H), respectively, and by inserting after subpara3 graph (E) the following new subparagraph: 

4 ‘‘(F) QUALIFIED DISASTER CONTRIBU5 TIONS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any qualified dis7 aster contribution shall be allowed to the 

8 extent that the aggregate of such contribu9 tions does not exceed the excess of 80 per10 cent of the taxpayer’s contribution base 

11 over the amount of all other charitable 

12 contributions allowable under this para13 graph. 

14 ‘‘(ii) CARRYOVER.—If the aggregate 

15 amount of contributions described in clause 

16 (i) exceeds the limitation under clause (i), 

17 such excess shall be treated (in a manner 

18 consistent with the rules of subsection 

19 (d)(1)) as a charitable contribution to 

20 which clause (i) applies in each of the 5 

21 succeeding years in order of time. 

22 ‘‘(iii) COORDINATION WITH OTHER

23 SUBPARAGRAPHS.—For purposes of apply24 ing this subsection and subsection (d)(1), 

25 contributions described in clause (i) shall 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1456 IS

1 not be treated as described in subpara2 graphs (A) and such subparagraph shall be 

3 applied without regard to such contribu4 tions. 

5 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED DISASTER CON6 TRIBUTIONS.—For purposes of this sub7 paragraph, the term ‘qualified disaster 

8 contribution’ means any charitable con9 tribution if— 

10 ‘‘(I) such contribution is made 

11 after the date of the enactment of this 

12 paragraph, 

13 ‘‘(II) such contribution is made 

14 in cash to an organization described 

15 in subparagraph (A) (other than an 

16 organization described in section 

17 509(a)(3)), and 

18 ‘‘(III) such contribution is for re19 lief efforts related to a federally de20 clared disaster (as defined in section 

21 165(h)(3)(C)(i)). 

22 Such term shall not include a contribution 

23 if the contribution is for establishment of 

24 a new, or maintenance in an existing, 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1456 IS

1 donor advised fund (as defined in section 

2 4966(d)(2)). 

3 ‘‘(v) SUBSTANTIATION REQUIRE4 MENT.—This paragraph shall not apply to 

5 any qualified disaster contribution unless 

6 the taxpayer obtains from such organiza7 tion to which the contribution was made a 

8 contemporaneous written acknowledgment 

9 (within the meaning of subsection (f)(8)) 

10 that such contribution was used (or is to 

11 be used) for a purpose described in clause 

12 (iv)(III).’’. 

13 (b) CORPORATIONS.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 

15 170(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

16 amended by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub17 paragraph (D) and by inserting after subparagraph 

18 (B) the following new subparagraph: 

19 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED DISASTER CONTRIBU20 TIONS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any qualified dis22 aster contribution shall be allowed to the 

23 extent that the aggregate of such contribu24 tions does not exceed the excess of 20 per25 cent of the taxpayer’s taxable income over 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1456 IS

1 the amount of charitable contributions al2 lowed under subparagraph (A). 

3 ‘‘(ii) CARRYOVER.—If the aggregate 

4 amount of contributions described in clause 

5 (i) exceeds the limitation under clause (i), 

6 such excess shall be treated (in a manner 

7 consistent with the rules of subsection 

8 (d)(1)) as a charitable contribution to 

9 which clause (i) applies in each of the 5 

10 succeeding years in order of time. 

11 ‘‘(iii) QUALIFIED DISASTER CON12 TRIBUTION.—The term ‘qualified disaster 

13 contribution’ has the meaning given such 

14 term under paragraph (2)(F)(iv). 

15 ‘‘(iv) SUBSTANTIATION REQUIRE16 MENT.—This paragraph shall not apply to 

17 any qualified disaster contribution unless 

18 the taxpayer obtains from such organiza19 tion to which the contribution was made a 

20 contemporaneous written acknowledgment 

21 (within the meaning of subsection (f)(8)) 

22 that such contribution was used (or is to 

23 be used) for a purpose described in para24 graph (1)(F)(iv)(III).’’. 

25 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1456 IS

1 (A) Subparagraph (A) of section 170(b)(2) 

2 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘subpara3 graph (B) applies’’ and inserting ‘‘subpara4 graphs (B) and (C) apply’’. 

5 (B) Subparagraph (B) of section 170(b)(2) 

6 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘subpara7 graph (A)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (A) 

8 and (C)’’. 

9 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act. 

12 SEC. 8. INCREASE IN NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT FOR IN13 VESTMENTS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 

14 ENTITIES SERVING DISASTER AREAS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section 45D of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

17 at the end the following new paragraph: 

18 ‘‘(4) INCREASED SPECIAL ALLOCATION FOR

19 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ENTITIES SERVING FED20 ERAL DISASTER AREAS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any cal22 endar year which begins after 2010, the limita23 tion under paragraph (1) shall be increased by 

24 an amount equal to $250,000,000, to be allo25 cated among qualified community development 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 1456 IS

1 entities to make qualified low-income commu2 nity investments within a federally declared dis3 aster area. 

4 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION OF INCREASE.—The 

5 amount of the increase in limitation under sub6 paragraph (A) shall be allocated by the Sec7 retary under paragraph (2) to qualified commu8 nity development entities and shall give priority 

9 to such entities with a record of having success10 fully provided capital or technical assistance to 

11 businesses or communities within the federally 

12 declared disaster area or areas for which the al13 location is requested. 

14 ‘‘(C) DENIAL OF CARRYFORWARD.—Para15 graph (3) shall not apply with respect to the 

16 amount of any increase under subparagraph 

17 (A). 

18 ‘‘(D) FEDERALLY DECLARED DISASTER

19 AREA.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 

20 term ‘federally declared disaster area’ means an 

21 area determined to warrant assistance under 

22 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

23 Emergency Assistance Act pursuant to a feder24 ally declared disaster (as defined in section 

25 165(h)(3)(C)).’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 1456 IS

1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to calendar years beginning after 

3 2010. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS