Press Release
Posted:
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Washington – Today, Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-05), Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) led members of the California delegation in calling on Congressional leadership to include vital tax relief for wildfire survivors in any end-of-year legislative package. “The Trust began issuing payments to survivors in 2020. While the current tax code does provide some relief to wildfire survivors in the event of property loss in a disaster area, these provisions do not make sufficiently clear that survivors should not face a tax burden upon receipt of their settlement award.,” the letter reads. “No wildfire survivor should have to pay taxes on their settlement awards. These families and individuals have lost their homes. Survivors should be entitled to the full amount of their award, and should not owe taxes on payments made to lawyers they never hired.” The PG&E Fire Victim Trust was established following California wildfires in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Rep. Thompson introduced H.R. 7305 on March 30, 2022 with Rep. Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) to ensure that wildfire survivors are not taxed on the settlements they receive from the Trust. The full letter can be found here. |