Wednesday, October 3, 2001
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Wednesday, October 3, 2001 |
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Collins cosponsors victim tax relief bill Rep. Mac Collins cosponsored the Victims of Terrorism Relief Act that was passed late last week in the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 418 to 0. "While this legislation cannot take away the pain and loss of the families of victims, it will help lessen the financial burden for those individuals suffering tremendously from the barbaric acts of terrorism that took the lives of so many on Tuesday," said Collins. "The passage of this legislation is proof that those of us who represent the American people in government will not be deterred from performing our duties and enacting measures that will provide assistance." This legislation will extend current law provisions that already apply to members of the Armed Forces who are killed while serving in a combat zone. Specifically, the bill will reduce the estate tax by more than half for all individuals who were killed as a result of last week's terrorist attack, or who die as a result of injuries suffered from the attack. In addition, the bill exempts individuals from paying Federal income taxes in the year of their death if they die during or as a result of injuries suffered in last week's disaster. The bill also clarifies that the $25,000 per passenger payments made by United Airlines to families of passenger victims will be exempt from Federal income taxes. Payments made by American Airlines would receive similar treatment. Finally, it would ensure that all assistance payments from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with regard to the tragedy will be exempt from Federal income tax.
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