[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1434 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1434

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize the Secretary 
 of the Treasury to postpone certain tax-related deadlines in the case 
 of taxpayers affected by a Presidentially declared disaster, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 24, 1997

  Mr. Herger introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to authorize the Secretary 
 of the Treasury to postpone certain tax-related deadlines in the case 
 of taxpayers affected by a Presidentially declared disaster, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Disaster Relief Tax Act of 1997''.

SEC 2. AUTHORITY TO POSTPONE CERTAIN TAX-RELATED DEADLINES BY REASON OF 
              PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTER.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by inserting after section 7508 the following new section:

``SEC. 7508A. AUTHORITY TO POSTPONE CERTAIN TAX-RELATED DEADLINES BY 
              REASON OF PRESIDENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTER.

    ``(a) In General.--In the case of a taxpayer determined by the 
Secretary to be affected by a Presidentially declared disaster (as 
defined by section 1033(h)(3)), the Secretary may prescribe regulations 
under which a period of up to 90 days may be disregarded in 
determining, under the internal revenue laws, in respect of any tax 
liability (including any penalty, additional amount, or addition to the 
tax) of such taxpayer--
            ``(1) whether any of the acts by the taxpayer described in 
        paragraph (1) of section 7508(a) were performed within the time 
        prescribed therefor, and
            ``(2) the amount of any credit or refund.
    ``(b) Interest on Overpayments and Underpayments.--Subsection (a) 
shall not apply for the purpose of determining interest on any 
overpayment or underpayment.''
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 77 of 
such Code is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
7508 the following new item:

                              ``Sec. 7508A. Authority to postpone 
                                        certain tax-related deadlines 
                                        by reason of presidentially 
                                        declared disaster.''
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to any period for performing an act that has not 
expired before the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. USE OF CERTAIN APPRAISALS TO ESTABLISH AMOUNT OF DISASTER LOSS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (i) of section 165 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph:
            ``(4) Use of disaster loan appraisals to establish amount 
        of loss.--Nothing in this title shall be construed to prohibit 
        the Secretary from prescribing regulations or other guidance 
        under which an appraisal for the purpose of obtaining a loan of 
        Federal funds or a loan guarantee from the Federal Government 
        as a result of a Presidentially declared disaster (as defined 
        by section 1033(h)(3)) may be used to establish the amount of 
        any loss described in paragraph (1) or (2).''
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
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