(The Center Square) – A bill that would give tax credits for people relocating to Wisconsin from the disasters of Hurricane Helene or the Los Angeles wildfires passed a committee vote and is on its way to be voted on by the full state Assembly.
Assembly Bill 139, dubbed the “Disaster Relief Tax Credit,” would create a nonrefundable, one-time income tax credit of up to $10,000 effective for tax year 2025 to encourage victims to move to the Badger State.
U.S. citizens who live in Los Angeles County or North Carolina up until the Los Angeles wildfires of 2025 or Hurricane Helene of 2024 and who moved to the state due to either disaster would be eligible.
“This bill presents a great opportunity for Wisconsin to address our workforce shortages by encouraging highly skilled people who were affected by these devastating disasters and want a fresh start to move to our wonderful state,” the bill’s author, Rep. Cindi Duchow, R-Delafield, said in a statement. “These people need a place to live, and I can’t think of a better place than right here in Wisconsin.”
Duchow said she is confident Assembly legislators will support the bill when it receives a full vote.
The bill’s fiscal estimate states that the taxpayer cost of the bill can be estimated using the past tax liabilities of movers from California and North Carolina from 2021 and 2022.
“To the extent that the number of households moving to Wisconsin from Los Angeles and North Carolina in 2024/2025 is larger or the average tax liability of movers is larger than in 2022, the fiscal effect will also be larger,” the estimate reports.
U.S. migration data compiled by the IRS says there were 406 households from Los Angeles County in 2021 who filed in Wisconsin in 2022.
Similarly, there were 1,005 households from North Carolina in 2021 that filed in Wisconsin in 2022.
“Of the part-year returns filed in Wisconsin for 2022, the average net tax liability (capped at $10,000) was $1,304,” the estimate says. “Using 2022 as a proxy, if these 1,411 households were to claim an average of $1,304, it would have reduced revenue by approximately $1.8 million in fiscal year 2023.”
The one-time impact of this bill on taxpayers will fall in fiscal year 2026.
