Usually, tax relief assistance payments are not taxable. People in a presidentially-declared disaster area who receive grants from state programs, charitable organizations, or employers to cover medical, transportation, or temporary housing expenses do not include these grants in their income.

In the case of a federally-declared disaster, an affected taxpayer can call 1-866-562-5227 to speak with an IRS specialist trained to handle disaster-related issues. For more information refer to the IRS Tax Relief in Disaster Situations website on the latest information for taxpayers in disaster areas.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.