Senate committee passes bill for tax relief to earthquake victims
Legislation by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) and Assemblymember Bill Dodd (D-Napa) to aid residents and businesses affected by the August 24, 2014 South Napa Earthquake earned a 6-0 vote in the Senate’s Governance & Finance Committee today.
Senate Bill 35 extends excess disaster loss provisions to the losses sustained in Napa, Solano, and Sonoma Counties which will allow individual and corporate taxpayers to amend their previous year’s return to claim those losses and generate a refund in the current year.
“SB 35 extends the filing deadline past April 15th for taxpayers to amend their 2013 tax returns to apply losses caused by the earthquake. It’s only fair that we provide individuals who suffered property damage in August’s earthquake, but don’t yet know the extent of that damage, more time to calculate their losses,” Wolk said. “We must also ensure that the deadlines are the same for California and the federal income tax to avoid unnecessary confusion.”
The Legislature has amended the Revenue and Taxation Code numerous times for past disasters to allow for excess disaster losses for both the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law. This ensures that taxpayers can apply losses to their prior year tax returns, resulting in a tax refund which can immediately be used to rebuild and recover from the earthquake.
“While six months have passed since the South Napa Earthquake, many people are still struggling with significant costs to rebuild and recover.” said Assemblymember Dodd. “SB 35 will help provide relief to many of the earthquake victims, and I want to thank Senator Wolk for her hard work and support on this important issue.”
“I am very proud of Napa’s recovery efforts and the resilience of our families and businesses, however our work is not done.” said Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza. “We still have individuals who are enduring the impacts of the earthquake and attempting to overcome the setbacks. Providing individuals the necessary time to assess their damages as addressed in SB 35 is the right thing to do and another step towards advancing Napa’s recovery.”
The bill, which will be heard next in the Senate Appropriations Committee, is supported by the Counties of Napa, Solano, and Sonoma, the City of Napa, California Professional Firefighters, Family Winemakers of California, California Society of Enrolled Agents, and the California Taxpayers Association.
