Florida storm victims: Milton, Ian, and others get tax assistance.
Residents of Southwest Florida who have faced significant financial challenges due to major hurricanes in recent years are now receiving some tax relief.
A bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on December 12 enables residents to revise their tax returns for the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, allowing them to deduct losses related to disasters, according to a recent article by Charlie Whitehead of Naples Daily News.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Greg Steube, represents District 17, which encompasses Sarasota, Charlotte, and part of Lee County. It received co-sponsor support from 35 representatives, including Byron Donalds from Southwest Florida.
Steube’s district was the epicenter when Hurricane Milton struck land in October 2024. The storm unleashed winds reaching 100 mph and generated storm surges of up to 8 feet. Milton set new records, including the highest number of tornado warnings issued in Florida within a single day.
Milton arrived just two weeks after Hurricane Helene, yet another Category 4 storm, caused a storm surge along the entire Florida Gulf coast. Southwest Florida experienced five feet or more, with the surge reaching a peak of up to 15 feet in the Big Bend.
This ongoing situation followed an extraordinary series of natural disasters, highlighted by Hurricane Ian on September 28, 2022, which became the third most expensive storm in U.S. history. Ian was nearly a Category 5 storm. The barrier island town of Fort Myers Beach was devastated by winds reaching 150 MPH and a storm surge that neared 15 feet. The storm resulted in the loss of more than 100 lives, with over 50 fatalities occurring in Lee County, and it caused nearly $120 billion in damages.
Victims of the Florida hurricane:
Reach out to your accountant to revise your tax returns.
The law does not pertain specifically to hurricanes. This includes events such as the wildfires in California and the western regions, as well as the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in the release of 100,000 gallons of hazardous material and necessitated evacuations in February 2023.
Jack Kahrnoff serves as the co-owner of Beach Accounting, located near Fort Myers Beach. He mentioned that many of his clients will be impacted by the new law.
“Many individuals at the Beach have lost everything,” he remarked.
To qualify for a deduction from annual gross income (AGI) for tax purposes, individuals had to experience a monetary loss that exceeded 10 percent of their AGI. For the majority, that amount was readily surpassed. However, Fahrnoff pointed out that an individual with an AGI of $500,000—similar to numerous clients from Sanibel Island and Captiva—would need to forfeit the initial $50,000 in damages.
Fahrnoff mentioned that numerous accountants, himself among them, merely marked the ‘qualified disaster’ option on the return.
“Many of my colleagues and accounting firms believed it would ultimately be recognized as a qualified disaster,” he stated. ‘Numerous individuals required all the assistance they could receive.’
More individuals will receive increased assistance. Steube stated that residents experiencing disaster losses ought to reach out to their tax preparer or review their own returns. Taxpayers have the option to deduct losses from 2024 on their upcoming tax returns and may also contemplate filing amended returns for damages incurred in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Steube also emphasized the collaborative aspect of the bill. The legislation passed through Congress with an overwhelming vote of 382 to 7.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News