IRS decides people who got money from Norfolk Southern after Ohio derailment won’t be taxed on it

By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

Most people who received money from Norfolk Southern in the wake of last year’s fiery train derailment in eastern Ohio won’t have to pay taxes on millions of dollars in aid payments after all. The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that it had decided that most of the more than $21 million people who live near East Palestine, Ohio, received to help them pay for temporary housing or replace their belongings aren’t taxable. The fact that residents were told they had to pay taxes on the money from the railroad was a sore spot for the people who are still struggling to recover from the derailment. U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said this decision is long overdue.