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 Hope around getting Federal Tax Relief for FVT payments
Last year the House passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act which would have made Fire Victims Trust payments non-taxable at the Federal level, but that bill is stalled in Congress for political reasons.
The House just passed another bill focused just on Disaster Relief. The Federal Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2023 (H.R. 5863) is on its way to the Senate and we are told that there is support in the Senate to pass this disaster relief bill. The provisions of this bill include:
- Allow taxpayers who were subject to damages from hurricanes, wildfires and other federally declared disasters that occurred after February 25, 2021, to claim disaster-related losses without itemizing such deductions;
- Remove the requirement that such losses must exceed 10% of a claimant’s adjusted gross income to claim the disaster-related loss;
- Exclude from gross income any amount received by an individual after 2019 and before 2025 as compensation for expenses or losses incurred due to a qualified wildfire disaster, to the extent the losses were not already covered by insurance or other sources; and
- Exclude specified relief payments received by taxpayers for losses resulting from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment on February 3, 2023.
Federal Tax Relief may be coming to Settlement Recipients
Congress has announced it has reached a budget deal that includes Federal tax relief for individuals who received settlement income related to wildfires. As of this writing, the bill has not passed yet, but assuming it does, The Tax Relief for American Families and...
New Disaster Relief for many Californians
For Federal Income Tax Returns The IRS announced that taxpayers who live in counties designated by FEMA as disaster areas because of the January 2023 storms now have more time to file and pay their Federal Income Tax Returns. As of the date of this writing eligible...
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)
Flyer to provide at meetings, info sessions and shelters
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.