Fla. Home Mitigation Program Grants Won’t Be Taxed as Income

Grants awarded to Florida homeowners through the My Safe Florida Home program will not be reported as taxable income to the federal government.

Florida CFO Alex Sink made the announcement after receiving a Letter Ruling from the Internal Revenue Service stating that MSFH grants will be excluded from “gross incomes for federal income tax purposes.”

Without this recent ruling handed down in November, matching grant recipients could have been facing a tax liability of $1,250 on a $5,000 MSFH grant, based on the IRS Flat Tax calculation rate of 25 percent. With $8.6 million in grants issued to date, Sink’s request has potentially saved Floridians from being subject to approximately $2.15 million in additional federal income taxes.

The MSFH program resumed offering wind inspections and expanded statewide in April after conducting a pilot program during the previous year. During the last 7 months, the program has performed approximately 114,000 free wind inspections, and a total of 127,816 inspections since the program began.

Approximately 15,985 homeowners have been approved to receive matching grants and are working with the program to harden their homes. Statewide, the program has issued a grand total of more than 2,637 grants to homeowners for more than $8.6 million.

Sink reported that the vast majority of homeowners who have received free wind inspections from the program are eligible for discounts on their wind insurance premiums without making a single improvement to their homes.

To date, 95,807 (76 percent) of participating homeowners are eligible for an average discount of $210 on their wind insurance premiums, based on the current structure of the home. Over the last seven months, the program has alerted Floridians to a potential savings in windstorm insurance premiums totaling more than $20 million.

Source: Florida Department of Financial Services

Topics Florida Profit Loss Homeowners