Old North News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Thom Tillis recently co-introduced the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act, bipartisan legislation that will exempt rebates that homeowners receive for hardening their homes against natural disasters from federal taxes.

“Federal taxes being taken out of a North Carolina homeowner’s rebate is the last thing they should have to think about if they take proactive measures to prepare their homes for natural disasters,” said Senator Tillis. “We should be doing everything we can to incentivize homeowners and improve disaster mitigation, and I’m proud to work on this bipartisan bill to provide this commonsense tax break to North Carolinians.”

North Carolina is among the states that provide rebates to homeowners who take steps to protect their homes from natural disasters. These improvements can include removing trees, bushes, and other fire-prone vegetation close to homes that contribute to wildfires, strengthening foundations to protect against earthquakes, and installing fortified roofs to withstand hurricanes.

However, homeowners are required to pay federal taxes on those rebates. In contrast, rebates for energy conservation improvements are already exempt from federal income taxes. This bill would place natural disaster mitigation efforts in a similar category. 

Original source can be found here.