What People Think
 |
 |
56% For, 44% Against
Take Action
| Vote on this Bill | |
  |
For |
  |
Against |
| Speak Out | |
  |
Comment on this Bill |
  |
Alert Your Friends and Colleagues |
  |
Write Your Representative in Congress |
| Save & Share | |
 |
del.icio.us |
 |
Digg |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Yahoo! |
H.R. 1445, The Tax Free Road Home Act of 2007
Revision History 
Below is the revision history of this article.
(Learn how to edit the WashingtonWatch.com wiki.)
No revisions found.
Learn More
Trackback URL: http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/trackback/110_HR_1445.html
RSS Feeds for This Bill
Keep yourself updated on user contributions and debates about this bill! (Learn more about RSS.)
Visitor Comments
Ralph
Failure to pass this bill would send a devastated region a dreadful message. After FEMA, the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers, the inaction or President Bush, the ineptitude of "Brownie", the ongoing, endless toil to recover ends with the loss of a little component of hope.
Ray in Gentilly
My wife and I are in our late seventies and our income is from Social Security and pension. At the disaster centers in Houston the IRS encouraged Katrina victims to amend their 2004 or 2005 because of the casualty to get a quick refund to aid in their recovery.We have a split house, front & rear used as one residence. Because of the low grant from the Road Home and the deduction of our entire insurance proceeds (part which was for our front and part which was for our rear) and the deduction of 30% for not having flood ins.we were able to repair the front part with a SBA loan.Our taxes went from $64. to $6871 because of the inclusion of the grant. Repairs are still needed to the front and the rear just sits there for lack of funds.
Deb
I am a tax preparer in St. Tammany. I see many people that would have to include the road home grant in their 2007 income. Not one of these families have been made whole through their insurance companies, road home grants, or SBA loans. Like Ray in Gentilly, paying the tax on the portion of the road home grant that reimbursed the losses used for income tax purposes will leave most people with this decision: What do I leave unrepaired so I can pay this tax?
Mona
The placement of this unfair tax would be burdensome to taxpayers who are trying not only to rebuild their lives but be good taxpaying Americans. Due to Katrina & Rita I lost my job as an educator of 33 years, my home, and my automobile. This was due to the levee failure. But I will not lose my will to survive or self-respect. Please pass this bill soon so that I may continue my struggle without unfair road home laws.
J
The Road Home should be taxed the same as insurance payments would be. If we allow people to take losses and then not offset it with the gain, it would put uninsured Road Home receipients in a better financial position than those with insurnace. We should be allowed to include all proceeds related to a casual loss in the year the loss was taken instead of when it is finally recovered.
Marty
I don't know anyone who's better off with Road Home Grants than those who weren't eligible due to insurance coverage. I also don't of anyone who's better off after Katrina than before regardless of Road Home grants, insurance, or tax losses. Unfortunately, the IRS Casualty Loss calculations for dwelling loss are based on loss of market value, not the cost of rebuilding, which for many of us far exceeds any IRS casualty loss claimed. Further, tax refunds (averaging 10-15% of the declared loss) cover only a fraction of the actual cost of rebuilding. The Road Home Grant was intended to cover actual dwelling rebuilding costs, and not to merely offset casualty losses. And because the IRS law as written doesn't allow restatement of the 2005 casualty loss taken, the Road Home grant must be declared as additional income in 2007 or 2008 and at a much higher tax rate than was realized on losses originally claimed in 2005. This is unfair and why the IRS law needs to be amended.