Connecticut homeowners with crumbling foundations are a step closer to getting some federal tax relief.
A key committee in the U.S. House approved a bipartisan bill last week that includes a provision to provide relief.
Connecticut Representatives John Larson and Joe Courtney were responsible for inserting the provision in the Casualty Loss Deduction Restoration Act, which passed unanimously in the House Ways and Means Committee last week.
Courtney said it would allow homeowners to use the federal deduction to pay for repairs, which were limited by a 2017 Republican tax law.
The bill would allow homeowners to retroactively claim the deduction, starting in 2021.
“We wrote the legislation to reach back from 2026 to 2021, so that nobody gets left out in terms of getting the opportunity to write down these losses,” he said.
Such losses can run into the $100,000 range.
“They include all of the related costs that come with tearing up a driveway, tearing up a garage, tearing up porches, tearing up finished basements, landscaping,” Courtney said.
The lawmakers want House leadership to swiftly bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
About 35,000 homes in Connecticut are affected by crumbling foundations.
