Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act
What does the Doug LaMalfa Federal Disaster Tax Relief Certainty Act do?
HR 5366 is a House bill sponsored by Rep. W. Gregory Steube (R-FL). Federal tax law normally requires casualty losses to exceed 10% of your income before you can deduct them — but Congress has repeatedly carved out exceptions for federally declared disaster areas, letting affected taxpayers deduct unreimbursed losses above $500 per incident even without itemizing. This bill applies those disaster-specific deduction rules to disasters with incident periods beginning after July 4, 2025 and before January 1, 2027, and extends the exclusion of wildfire relief payments from taxable income — for forest or range fires federally declared a disaster after 2014 — to payments received in tax years 2026 through 2030.
Did HR 5366 pass? Where it stands
As of July 17, 2026, HR 5366 has passed the House.
Status: Passed House
Latest vote: House Passed by voice vote on April 27, 2026
Outlook: Possible
Key provisions
- Disaster Loss Deductions
- Applies to disasters with incident periods beginning after July 4, 2025 and before January 1, 2027
- Deductible without itemizing; exempt from the alternative minimum tax
- Wildfire Relief Payments
- Relief payments for forest or range fires federally declared a disaster after 2014 excluded from gross income
- Exclusion now covers payments received in tax years 2026 through 2030; prior law covered payments received in tax years 2020 through 2025
Last updated June 10, 2026