H. R. 5863 

One Hundred Eighteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-four 

An Act 

To provide tax relief with respect to certain Federal disasters. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Disaster Tax Relief 

Act of 2023’’. 

SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF RULES FOR TREATMENT OF CERTAIN DISASTER-RELATED PERSONAL CASUALTY LOSSES. 

For purposes of applying section 304(b) of the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2020, section 301 of such 

Act shall be applied by substituting ‘‘the Federal Disaster Tax 

Relief Act of 2023’’ for ‘‘this Act’’ each place it appears. 

SEC. 3. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME FOR COMPENSATION FOR 

LOSSES OR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM CERTAIN 

WILDFIRES. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986, gross income shall not include any amount received by 

an individual as a qualified wildfire relief payment. 

(b) QUALIFIED WILDFIRE RELIEF PAYMENT.—For purposes of 

this section— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘qualified wildfire relief payment’’ means any amount received by or on behalf of an individual as compensation for losses, expenses, or damages 

(including compensation for additional living expenses, lost 

wages (other than compensation for lost wages paid by the 

employer which would have otherwise paid such wages), personal injury, death, or emotional distress) incurred as a result 

of a qualified wildfire disaster, but only to the extent the 

losses, expenses, or damages compensated by such payment 

are not compensated for by insurance or otherwise. 

(2) QUALIFIED WILDFIRE DISASTER.—The term ‘‘qualified 

wildfire disaster’’ means any federally declared disaster (as 

defined in section 165(i)(5)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code 

of 1986) declared, after December 31, 2014, as a result of 

any forest or range fire. 

(c) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Notwithstanding any other 

provision of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986— 

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

for whose benefit a qualified wildfire relief payment is made) 

for, or by reason of, any expenditure to the extent of the 
H. R. 5863—2 

amount excluded under this section with respect to such 

expenditure, and 

(2) no increase in the basis or adjusted basis of any property 

shall result from any amount excluded under this subsection 

with respect to such property. 

(d) LIMITATION ON APPLICATION.—This section shall only apply 

to qualified wildfire relief payments received by the individual 

during taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019, and before 

January 1, 2026. 

(e) EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF LIMITATION.—In the case of a 

claim for credit or refund which is properly allocable to the exclusion 

which is described in subsection (a)— 

(1) the period of limitation prescribed in section 6511(a) 

of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the filing of such 

claim shall be treated as not expiring earlier than the date 

that is 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

and 

(2) any limitation described in section 6511(b)(2) of such 

Code shall not apply. 

SEC. 4. EAST PALESTINE DISASTER RELIEF PAYMENTS. 

(a) DISASTER RELIEF PAYMENTS TO VICTIMS OF EAST PALESTINE

TRAIN DERAILMENT.—East Palestine train derailment payments 

shall be treated as qualified disaster relief payments for purposes 

of section 139(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

(b) EAST PALESTINE TRAIN DERAILMENT PAYMENTS.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘‘East Palestine train derailment 

payment’’ means any amount received by or on behalf of an individual as compensation for loss, damages, expenses, loss in real 

property value, closing costs with respect to real property (including 

realtor commissions), or inconvenience (including access to real 

property) resulting from the East Palestine train derailment if 

such amount was provided by— 

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

(2) Norfolk Southern Railway, or 

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

Railway or any related person. 

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

‘‘East Palestine train derailment’’ means the derailment of a train 

in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2023. 
H. R. 5863—3 

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

received on or after February 3, 2023. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.