From the Office of Joe Courtney: 9/21/18
An Update for Homeowners with Crumbling Foundations
Last week, Rep. John Larson and I received the support of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CTCPA) in our effort to clarify how homeowners with crumbling foundations can receive federal tax relief through the casualty loss deduction. In November of last year, we announced that after 19 months of work, the IRS had approved federal tax relief where a homeowner with crumbling foundations could write off repair costs through a casualty loss on their 2017 tax returns, until 2019.
Now, Congressman Larson and I are asking the IRS to clarify whether a taxpayer can take, and ‘carry forward’, a net operating loss should their casualty loss exceed their income. The need for clarification was brought to our attention by local homeowners and CPAs during a seminar we held for homeowners in May with IRS Senior Stakeholder Liaison from the Connecticut Taxpayer Advocate’s Office, Joseph S. McCarthy.
A clarification of the tax revenue procedure announced last year would have a major impact for homeowners whose repair costs exceed their annual income. Since the IRS granted the property casualty loss deduction I have heard from several homeowners that being able to use the deduction only in one-year limits the potential benefit and impact of this deduction. Allowing people to carry over the loss for multiple years would greatly assist in defraying thing cost of repairs.
We are grateful to have the support of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants and their Executive Director, Bonnie Stewart, in this critical matter for homeowners in northcentral and northeastern Connecticut. We also appreciate the continued attention of the IRS and Treasury to this problem and we will remain in close contact with them in the coming months to determine if the ability to carry over a net loss is available.
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Battling the Opioid Crisis
During my visits across the district, the number one thing I hear from our medical professionals and first responders is the critical need for more funding in our efforts to stem rising drug addiction. This week, my office announced the welcome news that eastern Connecticut health centers will receive nearly $600,000 in grants to fight the growing prescription opioid and heroin epidemic. United Community and Family Service in Norwich and Generations Family Health Center in Willimantic, along with multiple statewide health centers with locations in our region will receive this critical federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). For years, we have been saying that we need to start treating the opioid epidemic like public health crisis that it is. These federal grants will do just that by targeting funding towards hospitals and clinics on the frontlines.
