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Union Calendar No. 284 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5863 

[Report No. 118–348] 

To provide tax relief with respect to certain Federal disasters. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 2, 2023 

Mr. STEUBE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Ways and Means 

JANUARY 16, 2024 

Additional sponsors: Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. DONALDS, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. OMAR, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. SCOTT FRANKLIN of Florida, Mr. BARR, Mrs. BICE, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

TOKUDA, Mr. ROUZER, Mr. WALTZ, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. KILEY, 

Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. COSTA, Ms. HAGEMAN, 

Ms. CARAVEO, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. CASE, Mr. LIEU, Ms. PORTER, Mrs. 

MILLER of West Virginia, Mr. ARMSTRONG, Mr. RUTHERFORD, Mr. 

PFLUGER, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, and Ms. 

STANSBURY

JANUARY 16, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 2, 2023] 


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A BILL 

To provide tax relief with respect to certain Federal 

disasters. 


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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 ‘‘Federal Disaster Tax 

5 Relief Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF RULES FOR TREATMENT OF CER7 TAIN DISASTER-RELATED PERSONAL CAS8 UALTY LOSSES. 

9 For purposes of applying section 304(b) of the Tax10 payer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, sec11 tion 301 of such Act shall be applied by substituting ‘‘the 

12 Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023’’ for ‘‘this Act’’ each 

13 place it appears. 

14 SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR COMPENSA15 TION FOR LOSSES OR DAMAGES RESULTING 

16 FROM CERTAIN WILDFIRES. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the Internal Rev18 enue Code of 1986, gross income shall not include any 

19 amount received by an individual as a qualified wildfire 

20 relief payment. 

21 (b) QUALIFIED WILDFIRE RELIEF PAYMENT.—For 

22 purposes of this section— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified wildfire 

24 relief payment’’ means any amount received by or on 

25 behalf of an individual as compensation for losses, exVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jan 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5863.RH H5863

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1 penses, or damages (including compensation for addi2 tional living expenses, lost wages (other than com3 pensation for lost wages paid by the employer which 

4 would have otherwise paid such wages), personal in5 jury, death, or emotional distress) incurred as a re6 sult of a qualified wildfire disaster, but only to the 

7 extent the losses, expenses, or damages compensated by 

8 such payment are not compensated for by insurance 

9 or otherwise. 

10 (2) QUALIFIED WILDFIRE DISASTER.—The term 

11 ‘‘qualified wildfire disaster’’ means any federally de12 clared disaster (as defined in section 165(i)(5)(A) of 

13 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) declared, after 

14 December 31, 2014, as a result of any forest or range 

15 fire. 

16 (c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Notwithstanding 

17 any other provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986— 

18 (1) no deduction or credit shall be allowed (to the 

19 person for whose benefit a qualified wildfire relief 

20 payment is made) for, or by reason of, any expendi21 ture to the extent of the amount excluded under this 

22 section with respect to such expenditure, and 

23 (2) no increase in the basis or adjusted basis of 

24 any property shall result from any amount excluded 

25 under this subsection with respect to such property. 


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1 (d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—This section shall 

2 only apply to qualified wildfire relief payments received by 

3 the individual during taxable years beginning after Decem4 ber 31, 2019, and before January 1, 2026. 

5 SEC. 4. EAST PALESTINE DISASTER RELIEF PAYMENTS. 

6 (a) DISASTER RELIEF PAYMENTS TO VICTIMS OF

7 EAST PALESTINE TRAIN DERAILMENT.—East Palestine 

8 train derailment payments shall be treated as qualified dis9 aster relief payments for purposes of section 139(b) of the 

10 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

11 (b) EAST PALESTINE TRAIN DERAILMENT PAY12 MENTS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘East Pal13 estine train derailment payment’’ means any amount re14 ceived by or on behalf of an individual as compensation 

15 for loss, damages, expenses, loss in real property value, clos16 ing costs with respect to real property (including realtor 

17 commissions), or inconvenience (including access to real 

18 property) resulting from the East Palestine train derail19 ment if such amount was provided by— 

20 (1) a Federal, State, or local government agency, 

21 (2) Norfolk Southern Railway, or 

22 (3) any subsidiary, insurer, or agent of Norfolk 

23 Southern Railway or any related person. 

24 (c) TRAIN DERAILMENT.—For purposes of this section, 

25 the term ‘‘East Palestine train derailment’’ means the deVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:27 Jan 16, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H5863.RH H5863

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1 railment of a train in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 

2 3, 2023. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall apply to 

4 amounts received on or after February 3, 2023. 


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Union Calendar No. 284 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5863 

[Report No. 118–348] 

A BILL 

To provide tax relief with respect to certain Federal 

disasters. 

JANUARY 16, 2024 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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