A bipartisan coalition of U.S. lawmakers recently introduced the Hurricane Sandy Tax Relief Act of 2013 (H.R.2137) to provide tax relief for victims of Hurricane Sandy in areas designated as federal disaster areas by the president. U.S. Representatives Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Michael Grimm (R-NY), John Larson (D-CT), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Tom Reed (R-NY), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Jon Runyan (R-NJ) proposed the tax package that includes increased low-income housing tax credit (LIHTC) allocation authority for declared disaster areas and an increase in new markets tax credits for investments in community development entities serving Hurricane Sandy disaster areas. The legislation, which is modeled after a similar bill passed into law in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, also includes a waiver of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements in order to ease access to capital.

Click here to read more.