The members of the North Bay Enrolled Agents and the members of CSEA mourn with our neighbors the losses incurred with the California wildfires. We can’t turn back time but what we can do is bring you the latest tax information available on dealing with this loss. We will be adding information on how to deal with the requirements for reporting this loss as well as any relevant information we find to help you through this period. We will provide links to additional resources that may be appropriate.
Latest Tax Information for Victims of California Disasters
New Federal Tax Relief for Disasters
The Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act (HR5366) was signed into law on 9/11/26 and has three key features:
Qualified Wildfire Relief Payments now based on when the disaster occurred, not when the taxpayer received the payment
- Under the old law, if you received a qualified wildfire relief payment between 1/1/2020 and 12/31/25, you could exclude it from gross income.
- Under the new law (§139M), the time limit is based on when the disaster was declared and not based on when you received the payment. So, now, a qualified wildfire disaster is one that was declared between 1/1/15 and 12/31/26. So if you receive a payment after 12/31/25 for any of those disasters it will be excluded from gross income, even if you receive the payment years from now.
Change to what qualifies as a qualified disaster for disaster loss deductions (§165(h)(6))
- For qualified disaster losses, the deductible amount is calculated without regard to the 10% AGI limitation and applies a $500 floor.
- For tax years starting on 1/1/25, a qualified disaster is one where the incident period began between 12/28/19 to 12/31/26.
Changes to where the disaster loss is claimed (§63(b)(8) )
- In the past, the loss for non-itemizers was added to the standard deduction so it could impact Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Now the deduction is taken separately so it will not impact AMT.
- This begins for tax years starting 1/1/25.
Guidance for handling your first casualty return
If this is your first year preparing returns for clients with casualty gain/loss, you may be a bit overwhelmed (I know we certainly were in 2017 in the North Bay when we had thousands of clients lose their homes). We put together this guide to help you navigate the...
Sales Tax Relief for LA Fire Victims
Many taxpayers who live and work in Los Angeles or Ventura County now have until April 30, 2025 to file their CDTFA tax returns and make payments. This relief is available for most of the CDTFA administered programs including sales tax, use tax, lumber fees, Hazardous...
General Disaster Tax Relief Information
IRS
IRS Disaster Resource Guide for Individuals and Business – This resource guide provides information to individuals and businesses affected by a federally declared disasters.
Casualty Losses for Tax Years 2018 through 2025 (No easy to read guidance has been published yet. This is a link to the code section. Sec. 165(h)(5) was added as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limiting personal casualty losses unless taxpayer is in a Federally Declared Disaster).
Franchise Tax Board
Disaster Loss and your CA state income tax
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (formerly the SBOE)
Property Tax Reassessments
- Alpine County
- Butte County
- Lake County
- Lassen County
- Los Angeles County
- Mendocino County
- Napa County
- Nevada County
- Orange County
- Plumas County
- San Diego County
- San Mateo County
- Santa Barbara County
- Santa Clara County
- Santa Cruz County
- Shasta County
- Siskiyou County
- Solano County
- Sonoma County
- Trinity County
- Ventura County
- Yuba County
- Yolo County
Employment Development Department (EDD)
Federal Disaster Assistance Resources
Federal Disaster Assistance – The Disaster Assistance Improvement Program’s (DAIP) mission is to provide disaster survivors with information, support, services, and a means to access and apply for disaster assistance through joint data-sharing efforts between federal, tribal, state, local, and private sector partners
Contact Information
- If you have questions about anything on this site, email us at NorthBay@calfiretaxinfo.org
- To find an Enrolled Agent to help you file your income tax returns go to FindanEA.org
North Bay Enrolled Agents (NBEA)
Enrolled Agents (EAs) are federally-licensed tax practitioners who may represent taxpayers before the IRS when it comes to collections, audits and appeals. As authorized by the Department of Treasury’s Circular 230 regulations, EAs are granted unlimited practice rights to represent taxpayers before IRS and are authorized to advise, represent, and prepare tax returns for individuals, partnerships, corporations, estates, trusts, and any entities with tax-reporting requirements. Enrolled agents are the only federally-licensed tax practitioners who specialize in taxation and have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. The enrolled agent profession dates back to 1884 when, after questionable claims had been presented for Civil War losses, Congress acted to regulate persons who represented citizens in their dealings with the U.S. Treasury Department. Enrolled agents’ expertise in the continually changing field of taxation enables them to effectively represent taxpayers at all administrative levels within the IRS.
NBEA is the North Bay Chapter of the California Society of Enrolled Agents.