The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is doing its share by designating the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea as qualified disaster. This designation was not unusual for IRS since this is IRS’s fifth declaration of its kind for disaster although this is the first time for disease.
In its declaration, Ebola victims can exclude from their gross income any help they receive to treat the virus. Also included in the list are funds used to defray quarantine or funeral expenses. On normal occasions, aids such as these are treated as taxable.
Additionally, the IRS has authorized employees to donate their paid personal, vacation or sick leaves in exchange for cash payments to organizations that offer relief assistance to Ebola victims in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.