Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine September 2017 | Page 46

Disaster Unemployment Assistance
If you lost your job because of Hurricane Harvey, you can apply for unemployment benefits online at
www.twc.state.tx.us/jobseekers/disaster-unemployment-assistance Due to the impact to mail delivery, we
encourage you to select direct deposit as your payment method.
Links to Materials
•
Disaster Unemployment Assistance Fact Sheet
•
Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program
•
Disaster Unemployment Assistance Program Application
•
Notification of Availability of Disaster Unemployment Assistance for Hurricane Harvey
Special Tax Considerations
Taxpayers who have sustained a casualty loss from a declared disaster may deduct that loss on
the federal income tax return for the year in which the casualty actually occurred, or elect to
deduct the loss on the tax return for the tax year. To deduct a casualty loss, the amount of the loss
must exceed 10 percent of the adjusted gross income for the tax year by at least $100. If the loss
was sustained from a federally declared disaster, the taxpayer may choose which of those two tax
years provides the better tax advantage.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can expedite refunds due to taxpayers in a federally declared
disaster area. An expedited refund can be a relatively quick source of cash, does not need to be
repaid, and does not need an Individual Assistance designation. It is available to any taxpayer in
a federally declared disaster area.
You can call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 for special help with disaster-related tax
issues. For more on this topic and the special rules for federally declared disaster area losses
see Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts. You can get it and IRS tax forms
on IRS.gov/forms at any time.
Link to Materials
•
Special Tax Considerations from the IRS
•
Publication 547 Index
Houston Area Realtors Hurricane Harvey Relief Information
Although the City of League City cannot endorse or verify the authenticity of the information provided by
Houston Area Realtors and/or www.har.com, citizens may find information provided at www.har.com/
harvey/info to be of assistance.
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MOMENTUM / September 2017