# 119-s-496: Wildfire Victim Tax Relief and Recovery Act

119-s-496, Wildfire Victim Tax Relief and Recovery Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2025-12-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-496
- As of: 2025-12-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-496
- Congress: 119
- Title: Wildfire Victim Tax Relief and Recovery Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-10
- Sponsor: Sen. Cruz, Ted [R-TX] (R-TX)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2025-12-21

## Summary

**Targeted tax relief for Texas Panhandle wildfire victims and farmers.** This bill would let farmers defer taxable gains from livestock sold because of fire and treat certain payments tied to named Texas Panhandle wildfires as tax-free disaster relief. - Individuals who receive payments from federal, state, or local agencies or from Xcel Energy (or its subsidiaries, insurers, or agents) for losses, damages, expenses, loss in property value, closing costs, or inconvenience tied to any Texas Panhandle fire may exclude those amounts from gross income. The exclusion covers payments related to five named fires and applies to amounts received on or after Feb 26, 2024. - Farmers could treat livestock sales or exchanges caused by fire like flood-driven involuntary conversions, allowing deferral of taxable gain. That change may let qualifying livestock gains be deferred up to four years and applies for tax years beginning after Dec 31, 2023.

## Provisions PRIA read

- Tax timing relief for livestock owners: benefit, medium. If enacted, farmers and ranchers could defer or change the timing of income when they sold livestock because of a fire. The bill adds "fire" alongside "flood" to the involuntary conversion and livestock timing rules. This change would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2023.
- Tax-free payments for Texas Panhandle wildfire victims: benefit, low. If enacted, you could exclude certain disaster payments from your taxable income. The payment must be for loss, damage, closing costs, or inconvenience from one of five named Texas Panhandle wildfires: Smokehouse Creek, Windy Deuce, Grape Vine Creek, 687 Reamer, or Roughneck. Payments must come fro…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026
- 119-s-2975: PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025
- 119-s-306: Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-496 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/496)

## Related
- [119-s-1071: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1071)
- [119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-524)
- [119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3923)
- [119-s-4668: Protect College Sports Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4668)
- [119-s-2975: PIPELINE Safety Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2975)
- [119-s-306: Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-306)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-496 (as of 2025-12-21).