H.R. 3469 — Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams, and Disasters Act

This section reinstates the tax deduction for personal casualty and theft losses (i.e., losses of personal-use property from events such as fire, storm, shipwreck, or theft) for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, by striking the post-2017 limitation to losses attributable to a federally declared disaster. (Thus, individuals may deduct such qualified losses exceeding $100 per event and 10% of adjusted gross income, as under pre-2018 law.)

This section extends the statute of limitations under IRC §6511(a) for filing a claim for credit or refund attributable to a personal casualty loss deduction under IRC §165(c)(3) (i.e., individual losses from fire, storm, or other casualty) on tax returns for taxable years ending before January 1, 2025—where the deduction was unavailable due to the suspension under §165(h)(5) (which limited such deductions to federally declared disasters for tax years 2018-2025)—to the due date (including extensions) for the return for the taxable year including the date of enactment (from the standard three-year period from return filing or two years from tax payment). It also provides that the two-year limitation on refund amounts under §6511(b)(2) does not apply to such claims. (Thus, eligible taxpayers may claim refunds for overpayments from those previously suspended deductions notwithstanding expired normal limitations periods.)