Jackson bill exempts wildfire relief from tax

Congressman Ronny Jackson (TX-13) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) last week reintroduced the Wildfire Victim Tax Relief and Recovery Act. This legislation would exempt any income individuals received for fire relief from their overall tax burden, ensuring individuals and agricultural producers can focus on recovering from the wildfires that ravaged the Texas Panhandle last year.

Senator Ted Cruz sponsored a companion bill in the US Senate.

“The historic wildfires that tore through the Texas Panhandle last year have left a lasting mark on all the ranchers, families, and communities involved,” Jackson said. “I’m honored to reintroduce this critical legislation and am committed to making sure those hit hardest by this catastrophic disaster can use the assistance they’ve received to rebuild their farms, ranches, and livelihoods, not pay the federal government.”
“Last year, historic wildfires destroyed the Panhandle, taking the homes and livelihoods of thousands of Texans,” Cruz said. “This bill will deliver much needed tax relief to support these communities in their ongoing recovery efforts. I urge my colleagues to pass this bill without delay.”

Kent Bacus, Executive Director, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, said last year’s wildfires highlighted the need for action.

“The Wildfire Victim Tax Relief and Recovery Act, introduced in the House and Senate, would allow taxpayers to exclude from gross income any disaster relief payments received from federally declared wildfires in Texas, Bacus said. NCBA thanks Senator Ted Cruz and Congressman Ronny Jackson for leading this measure and calls for swift congressional passage.”