Legislators Support Super Storm Sandy Tax Relief Bill

Recently, a bipartisan group of 32 U.S. representatives from states affected by Hurricane Sandy, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, sent House Speaker John Boehner a letter urging tax relief for victims of Super Storm Sandy.

The group was led by Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who introduced the Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2012 (H.R. 6682) last year during the 112th Congress. The letter cited tax relief legislation passed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as the basis for the passage of similar tax relief legislation in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy. The Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2012 proposed, among other things, to allow additional allocation of low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) to states damaged by the storm.

The applicable limitation for additional LIHTCs would have been temporarily increased to the greater of $8 multiplied by the population of the affected area or 50 percent of the state housing credit ceiling for 2013. In addition, disaster areas would have been treated as difficult development areas for LIHTC properties placed in service from 2013 to 2015. The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means in December, but Congress adjourned without acting on it.