State Governors Can Request IRS Disaster Relief
May 20, 2026
In 2025, Congress enacted H.R. 517, allowing state governors to request the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury provide tax relief for state-declared disasters (i.e., the state trigger). Since this is a new approach for many, the AICPA is providing the states the following guidance:
- A one-page outline of the process to request disaster tax relief from the Secretary of the Treasury; and
- A template letter that includes the type of information that is needed in a written request for disaster tax relief.
Under the prior rules, states impacted by a disaster had no recourse if the disaster did not meet certain requirements or the Secretary did not independently offer tax relief. However, the state trigger offers state governors the latitude to quickly request if the disaster did not otherwise qualify for tax relief. Under the new rule, the governor must submit to the Secretary a written request asking for tax relief due to damages caused by a state-declared disaster. Then, the Secretary will determine whether to afford disaster tax relief; however, note that such relief is entirely within the Secretary’s discretion.
In February 2026, Louisiana was the first state to request and to successfully obtain disaster tax relief under the state trigger process after experiencing a severe winter storm in late January.