The bill offers refundable tax relief to help homeowners pay for disaster-mitigation measures and encourage resilience, but benefit caps, exclusions, income phaseouts, and tax-treatment rules limit who gains and add complexity for many taxpayers.
Homeowners can receive a refundable tax credit covering 50% of qualifying storm/flood/fire mitigation expenses (lowering out-of-pocket costs up to a $25,000 lifetime cap), and because the credit is refundable, low- and moderate-income taxpayers who owe little or no tax can still receive payment.
Owners in federally declared disaster areas and FEMA-assisted communities gain a financial incentive to harden properties, which can reduce expected future repair costs and insurance losses.
Indexing the dollar thresholds for inflation preserves the real value of limits and phaseout thresholds over time, helping maintain the program's purchasing power.
Homeowners undertaking high-cost mitigation projects may still face substantial out-of-pocket expenses because of the program's lifetime cap and per-unit limits.
Taxpayers who were reimbursed by other government disaster aid cannot claim the credit, reducing or eliminating benefits for people who already received mitigation grants.
The credit phases out for higher-income filers (AGI $200k–$300k), which reduces benefits for many moderate-to-upper-income homeowners in disaster-prone regions.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a refundable individual tax credit covering 50% of qualifying disaster mitigation expenses for eligible homes with a $25,000 lifetime cap and income phaseout.
Introduced April 8, 2025 by Adam Schiff · Last progress April 8, 2025
Creates a new refundable individual income tax credit that pays 50% of qualifying disaster mitigation spending for eligible homes, up to a lifetime cap of $25,000 per taxpayer ($12,500 married filing separately), with income phaseout for higher earners and documentation requirements. The credit applies only to eligible dwellings in places with recent federal disaster declarations, FEMA hazard-mitigation support, or designated community resilience zones, and excludes expenses already paid or reimbursed by government programs. The credit is refundable (can generate a refund beyond tax liability), disallows other tax benefits for the same expenses, reduces the tax basis of property by the credit amount, and adds inflation adjustments for future years; it applies to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, and includes conforming technical amendments for tax collection and offsets.