The ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits sponsored a free Teleconference entitled Employees In a Disaster: What To Do After Katrina in September 2005. Written materials and an audio webstream of the teleconference are available.

Notice 2006-10 provides guidance on the federal income and employment tax treatment of special allowances paid by federal executive agencies to employees to reimburse certain expenses the employees and their dependents incur while evacuating from Hurricane Katrina and staying at a safe haven.

Businesses may take a special depreciation allowance for qualified GO Zone property placed in service after August 27, 2005. The allowance is an additional deduction of 50% of the property's depreciable basis and applies only for the first year the property is placed in service. For further information, see Publication 946.

An eligible employer who conducted an active trade or business in the Katrina GO Zone, the Rita GO Zone, or the Wilma GO Zone can claim the employee retention credit. For more information, see Form 5884-A.

A business may be able to elect to deduct a limited amount of reforestation costs for each qualified timber property. For more information about the election to deduct reforestation costs, see chapter 8 in Publication 535, Business Expenses.

A business can elect to deduct 50% of any qualified GO Zone clean-up costs for the tax year in which the costs are paid or incurred, instead of capitalizing them. Please see Publication 4492 for further information.

The rehabilitation credit is increased for qualified rehabilitation expenditures paid or incurred after August 27, 2005, and before January 1, 2009, on buildings located in the GO Zone. For further information, please see Form 3468.