UPDATE, Thursday, July 24, 2025: Donald Trump today signed H.R. 517, the tax Filing Relief for Natural Disaster Victims Act into law.
People who endure major natural disasters generally are eligible for a variety of federal relief. That includes the filing and paying of taxes whose deadlines were during the disaster period.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has improved its turnaround in such cases. After that, the IRS then announces its tax relief, including the later due dates.
A bill that would speed up that process is awaiting Donald J. Trump’s signature.
When that happens, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act (H.R. 517) would allow the IRS to postpone tax deadlines in disaster areas at the request of a state’s governor.
Tax relief short-cut: Under current law, the IRS may postpone federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a federally declared disaster. Such relief includes, but is not limited to, deadlines for —
- filing federal tax returns,
- paying federal taxes,
- making retirement plan contributions, and
- dealing with tax assessments and collections.
But getting to that disaster-related tax relief often takes a while.
The Ways and Means report issued by the committee when it sent the bill to the full House for consideration notes the FEMA declaration that allows the IRS to postpone tax deadlines may take weeks or months to be issued.
States, on the other hand, often are able to move at a faster pace than the federal government when an event necessitates the declaration of a natural disaster within their borders.
Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act, once enacted, would streamline the process by authorizing the Secretary of Treasury, in consultation with FEMA and impacted states, to extend relief to affected taxpayers by postponing federal tax deadlines prior to the official FEMA disaster declaration.
The bill also would expand the mandatory extension from a declared disaster from 60 days to 120 days, giving families additional time to file taxes while recovering from the disaster.
Rare bipartisan approval: The Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act underscores the importance of helping disaster victims during such a difficult time. Concern about tax filing or subsequent problems if those tax obligations are not met should not be an issue for disaster victims.
That’s one reason H.R. 517 earns this weekend’s By the Numbers recognition. The other is that it has had unanimous Congressional support on its path to the White House for signing into law.
The bill’s bipartisan support started with its introduction in January by Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tennessee) and original cosponsor Rep. Judy Chu (D-California).
Both are members of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee. Both also have seen their states hard hit by major natural disasters.
Other Capitol Hill lawmakers also know too well the devastation major disasters have caused in their red, blue, and purple political jurisdictions.
So, it was no surprise that the House unanimously passed H.R. 517 on March 31. It cleared the Senate by unanimous consent on July 10.
Now, it waits for presidential signature to become law.
Trump just returned to Washington, D.C., after visiting flood-ravaged Central Texas. H.R. 517 supporters are hoping that seeing the aftermath of the nation’s latest federal disaster will prompt 47 to quickly sign the bill.
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