Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams, and Disasters Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams, and Disasters Act amends Internal Revenue Code section 165(h) by striking paragraph (5), which had suspended personal casualty loss deductions except in federally declared disaster circumstances. The repeal applies to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017. For taxpayers who filed returns for taxable years ending before January 1, 2025, and who could have claimed a section 165(a) deduction for personal casualty losses described in section 165(c)(3) but for the suspension, the bill extends the section 6511(a) period for filing a refund or credit claim until the due date, including extensions, for the return covering the bill's enactment date. It also disapplies section 6511(b)(2)'s lookback limit for those claims to the extent the overpayment is attributable to the restored personal casualty loss deduction.
Who Benefits and How
Crime and scam victims benefit because theft and casualty losses can again support personal casualty loss deductions. Disaster victims outside federally declared disaster rules benefit from restored section 165(c)(3) deductions. Taxpayers with pre-2025 casualty losses benefit from a reopened refund-claim window. Tax preparers benefit from demand to amend returns and document restored casualty-loss claims.
Who Bears the Burden and How
IRS staff must process refund claims for earlier taxable years and administer the special limitations-period rule. Federal revenue falls when taxpayers claim deductions or refunds that were previously unavailable. Taxpayers must substantiate casualty losses and tie refund claims to section 165(c)(3) personal losses. The Treasury Department must account for retroactive effects back to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
Key Provisions
- Repeals the personal casualty loss deduction suspension in Internal Revenue Code section 165(h)(5).
- Applies the deduction restoration to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.
- Extends refund-claim deadlines for pre-2025 returns affected by the suspended deduction.
- Limits special refund treatment to overpayments attributable to section 165(c)(3) personal casualty losses.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Restores the personal casualty loss deduction by repealing the current section 165(h)(5) suspension and extends refund-claim deadlines for taxpayers who could have claimed personal casualty losses on pre-2025 returns but could not do so because the deduction was suspended.
Key Policy Areas
Tax, Disaster Relief, Consumer Protection
Primary Purpose
Restores the personal casualty loss deduction by repealing the current section 165(h)(5) suspension and extends refund-claim deadlines for taxpayers who could have claimed personal casualty losses on pre-2025 returns but could not do so because the deduction was suspended.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Crime victims
- Scam victims
- Disaster victims
- Tax preparers
Identified Costs
- IRS refund staff
- Federal taxpayers
- Taxpayers claiming casualty losses
- Treasury Department
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Steube (for himself, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Ezell, …
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Crime victims, Disaster victims, Scam victims
Positive-direction: Crime victims, Disaster victims, Scam victims
Negative-direction: Taxpayers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology