[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1456 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1456

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and expand tax 
                     relief for national disasters.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 1, 2011

 Mr. Kerry (for himself and Mr. Brown of Massachusetts) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to extend and expand tax 
                     relief for national disasters.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Tax Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. LOSSES ATTRIBUTABLE TO FEDERALLY DECLARED DISASTERS.

    (a) Waiver of Adjusted Gross Income Limitation; Increase in 
Standard Deduction by Disaster Casualty Loss.--
            (1) In general.--Subclause (I) of section 165(h)(3)(B)(i) 
        of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 
        ``before January 1, 2010'' and inserting ``after December 31, 
        2010''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by this subsection 
        shall apply to disasters declared in taxable years beginning 
        after December 31, 2010.
    (b) Increase in Limitation on Individual Loss Per Casualty.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 165(h) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``($100 
        for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2009)''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by this subsection 
        shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010.
    (c) Technical Amendment.--Clause (i) of section 165(h)(3)(C) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ``major'' after 
``means any''.

SEC. 3. EXPENSING OF QUALIFIED DISASTER EXPENSES.

    (a) In General.--Subparagraph (A) of section 198A(b)(2) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``before January 
1, 2010'' and inserting ``after December 31, 2010''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to amounts paid or incurred after December 31, 2010, in connection with 
disasters declared after such date.

SEC. 4. NET OPERATING LOSSES ATTRIBUTABLE TO FEDERALLY DECLARED 
              DISASTERS.

    (a) In General.--Subclause (I) of section 172(j)(1)(A)(i) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``before January 
1, 2010'' and inserting ``after December 31, 2010''.
    (b) Elimination of Exclusion.--Section 172(j) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking paragraph (4).
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to losses arising in taxable years beginning after December 31, 
2010, in connection with disasters declared after such date.

SEC. 5. WAIVER OF CERTAIN MORTGAGE REVENUE BOND REQUIREMENTS FOLLOWING 
              FEDERALLY DECLARED DISASTERS.

    (a) In General.--Subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)(i) of section 
143(k)(12) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by the Tax 
Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008, are each 
amended by striking ``before January 1, 2010'' and inserting ``after 
December 31, 2010''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to disasters occurring after December 31, 2010.

SEC. 6. INCREASED EXPENSING FOR QUALIFIED DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROPERTY.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 179(e) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ``, except that `after 
December 31, 2010' shall be substituted for `before January 1, 2010' in 
subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) thereof'' after ``as defined in section 
168(n)(2)''.
    (b) Elimination of Exclusion.--Section 168(n)(2)(B) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting ``and'' at the end of 
clause (i), by striking ``, and'' at the end of clause (ii) and 
inserting a period, and by striking clause (iii).
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to property placed in service after December 31, 2010, with 
respect to disasters declared after such date.

SEC. 7. INCREASED LIMITATION ON CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS FOR DISASTER 
              RELIEF.

    (a) Individuals.--Paragraph (1) of section 170(b) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subparagraphs (F) and 
(G) as subparagraphs (G) and (H), respectively, and by inserting after 
subparagraph (E) the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(F) Qualified disaster contributions.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Any qualified disaster 
                        contribution shall be allowed to the extent 
                        that the aggregate of such contributions does 
                        not exceed the excess of 80 percent of the 
                        taxpayer's contribution base over the amount of 
                        all other charitable contributions allowable 
                        under this paragraph.
                            ``(ii) Carryover.--If the aggregate amount 
                        of contributions described in clause (i) 
                        exceeds the limitation under clause (i), such 
                        excess shall be treated (in a manner consistent 
                        with the rules of subsection (d)(1)) as a 
                        charitable contribution to which clause (i) 
                        applies in each of the 5 succeeding years in 
                        order of time.
                            ``(iii) Coordination with other 
                        subparagraphs.--For purposes of applying this 
                        subsection and subsection (d)(1), contributions 
                        described in clause (i) shall not be treated as 
                        described in subparagraphs (A) and such 
                        subparagraph shall be applied without regard to 
                        such contributions.
                            ``(iv) Qualified disaster contributions.--
                        For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
                        `qualified disaster contribution' means any 
                        charitable contribution if--
                                    ``(I) such contribution is made 
                                after the date of the enactment of this 
                                paragraph,
                                    ``(II) such contribution is made in 
                                cash to an organization described in 
                                subparagraph (A) (other than an 
                                organization described in section 
                                509(a)(3)), and
                                    ``(III) such contribution is for 
                                relief efforts related to a federally 
                                declared disaster (as defined in 
                                section 165(h)(3)(C)(i)).
                        Such term shall not include a contribution if 
                        the contribution is for establishment of a new, 
                        or maintenance in an existing, donor advised 
                        fund (as defined in section 4966(d)(2)).
                            ``(v) Substantiation requirement.--This 
                        paragraph shall not apply to any qualified 
                        disaster contribution unless the taxpayer 
                        obtains from such organization to which the 
                        contribution was made a contemporaneous written 
                        acknowledgment (within the meaning of 
                        subsection (f)(8)) that such contribution was 
                        used (or is to be used) for a purpose described 
                        in clause (iv)(III).''.
    (b) Corporations.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (2) of section 170(b) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 
        subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (D) and by inserting after 
        subparagraph (B) the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(C) Qualified disaster contributions.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Any qualified disaster 
                        contribution shall be allowed to the extent 
                        that the aggregate of such contributions does 
                        not exceed the excess of 20 percent of the 
                        taxpayer's taxable income over the amount of 
                        charitable contributions allowed under 
                        subparagraph (A).
                            ``(ii) Carryover.--If the aggregate amount 
                        of contributions described in clause (i) 
                        exceeds the limitation under clause (i), such 
                        excess shall be treated (in a manner consistent 
                        with the rules of subsection (d)(1)) as a 
                        charitable contribution to which clause (i) 
                        applies in each of the 5 succeeding years in 
                        order of time.
                            ``(iii) Qualified disaster contribution.--
                        The term `qualified disaster contribution' has 
                        the meaning given such term under paragraph 
                        (2)(F)(iv).
                            ``(iv) Substantiation requirement.--This 
                        paragraph shall not apply to any qualified 
                        disaster contribution unless the taxpayer 
                        obtains from such organization to which the 
                        contribution was made a contemporaneous written 
                        acknowledgment (within the meaning of 
                        subsection (f)(8)) that such contribution was 
                        used (or is to be used) for a purpose described 
                        in paragraph (1)(F)(iv)(III).''.
            (2) Conforming amendments.--
                    (A) Subparagraph (A) of section 170(b)(2) of such 
                Code is amended by striking ``subparagraph (B) 
                applies'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (B) and (C) 
                apply''.
                    (B) Subparagraph (B) of section 170(b)(2) of such 
                Code is amended by striking ``subparagraph (A)'' and 
                inserting ``subparagraphs (A) and (C)''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years ending after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 8. INCREASE IN NEW MARKETS TAX CREDIT FOR INVESTMENTS IN COMMUNITY 
              DEVELOPMENT ENTITIES SERVING DISASTER AREAS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (f) of section 45D of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(4) Increased special allocation for community 
        development entities serving federal disaster areas.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of any calendar year 
                which begins after 2010, the limitation under paragraph 
                (1) shall be increased by an amount equal to 
                $250,000,000, to be allocated among qualified community 
                development entities to make qualified low-income 
                community investments within a federally declared 
                disaster area.
                    ``(B) Allocation of increase.--The amount of the 
                increase in limitation under subparagraph (A) shall be 
                allocated by the Secretary under paragraph (2) to 
                qualified community development entities and shall give 
                priority to such entities with a record of having 
                successfully provided capital or technical assistance 
                to businesses or communities within the federally 
                declared disaster area or areas for which the 
                allocation is requested.
                    ``(C) Denial of carryforward.--Paragraph (3) shall 
                not apply with respect to the amount of any increase 
                under subparagraph (A).
                    ``(D) Federally declared disaster area.--For 
                purposes of this paragraph, the term `federally 
                declared disaster area' means an area determined to 
                warrant assistance under the Robert T. Stafford 
                Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act pursuant 
                to a federally declared disaster (as defined in section 
                165(h)(3)(C)).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to calendar years beginning after 2010.
                                 <all>