Refugees from the recent hurricanes—no matter where in the U.S. they live—now have another option for emergency housing. The Internal Revenue Service has waived certain rules for owners and operators of low-income housing projects so they can provide temporary emergency housing for those displaced by one of the major storms, regardless of their income.

As detailed in Revenue Procedure 2014-49 and Revenue Procedure 2014-50,  the measure authorizes owners and operators, in conjunction with agencies and issuers, to disregard income limits, transience rules and certain other restrictions that normally apply to low-income housing units when providing temporary emergency housing to displaced individuals. As a result, owners and operators can offer temporary housing to displaced storm victims who lived in a county or other local jurisdiction designated for individual assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Such relief can be offered to residents of Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Other locations may be added by FEMA later. The temporary housing may be provided for up to a year after the disaster declaration is made.

While this new measure allows owners and operators of housing projects to take in storm victims, they are not required to do so.

Details on other hurricane-related tax relief are available at www.irs.gov/hurricaneharvey and www.irs.gov/hurricaneirma.