What it means for you
If a federally declared disaster that began between Dec. 28, 2019 and the end of 2026 damaged your home or belongings, you can deduct the uninsured loss above $500, and you don't have to itemize. Qualified wildfire relief payments for uncompensated losses also aren't taxed.
Who benefits: People with uninsured losses from a federally declared disaster whose incident period began from Dec. 28, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2026, and wildfire survivors who receive qualifying payments for losses not otherwise reimbursed.
When a hurricane, flood, or wildfire wrecks your home or belongings, this law lets you deduct the uninsured loss even if you take the standard deduction. It covers federally declared disasters whose incident period began between Dec. 28, 2019 and the end of 2026. After a $500 reduction for each casualty, the rest is deductible without the usual 10%-of-income floor. Without this law, disasters beginning after July 4, 2025 would fall under those stricter rules.
The law also excludes qualified wildfire relief payments from taxable income. Together with the 2024 law, it covers payments received from 2020 onward for losses not covered by insurance or another reimbursement, if the fire was federally declared from 2015 through 2026. Covered payments include extra living expenses, non-employer lost wages, injuries, death, and emotional distress. You claim the casualty deduction on your tax return; qualified wildfire payments are left out of gross income.
Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) introduced the bill with Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), and Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.). Thompson and LaMalfa developed the wildfire-payment relief for California fire victims; Steube and Thompson co-led the 2024 discharge petition that forced an earlier version to a vote. The bill was renamed after LaMalfa died in January 2026. Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) led the Senate companion. President Donald Trump signed the bill on Sept. 11, 2026. JCT estimated $408 million in reduced revenue from 2026 through 2036; the law did not pair the relief with service cuts.
Flooding and stormsLower costs
Sources
- H.R. 5366, Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty ActCongress.gov
- Bill status, H.R. 5366 (119th Congress)U.S. Government Publishing Office
- President Trump Signs Ways and Means Bill Extending Tax Relief for Disaster VictimsHouse Ways and Means Committee, September 14, 2026
- Sens. Schiff and Scott's Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act Signed into LawOffice of Sen. Adam Schiff, September 11, 2026
- Thompson, Steube's bipartisan disaster tax relief bill passes U.S. House of RepresentativesOffice of Rep. Mike Thompson
- Sen. Rick Scott's Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act Passes the House of RepresentativesOffice of Sen. Rick Scott, April 28, 2026
- The Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act: technical analysis of statutory revisions to sections 165, 63, and the inception of section 139MCurrent Federal Tax Developments, August 19, 2026
How we checked this
Drafted by Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic) on November 12, 2026. Checked against its sources by GPT-5.6-sol (OpenAI) on November 12, 2026, which corrected it. Confirmed the enacted text, passage method, fiscal estimate, legislative history, and current status. Narrowed the wildfire-payment language and corrected the discharge-petition and Senate sponsorship credits.
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