[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5872 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5872

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to postpone tax deadlines 
   and reimburse paid late fees for United States nationals who are 
unlawfully or wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 2, 2023

   Ms. Titus (for herself, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Hill, Mr. Beyer, and Ms. 
   Tenney) 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 postpone tax deadlines 
   and reimburse paid late fees for United States nationals who are 
unlawfully or wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, 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 ``Stop Tax Penalties on American 
Hostages Act''.

SEC. 2. POSTPONEMENT OF TAX DEADLINES FOR HOSTAGES AND INDIVIDUALS 
              WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by inserting after section 7510 the following new section:

``SEC. 7511. TIME FOR PERFORMING CERTAIN ACTS POSTPONED FOR HOSTAGES 
              AND INDIVIDUALS WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD.

    ``(a) Time To Be Disregarded.--
            ``(1) In general.--Any applicable individual shall be 
        entitled to the benefits of section 7508 in the same manner as 
        if such individual was performing services described in 
        subsection (a) of such section for any period in which such 
        individual was--
                    ``(A) unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, or
                    ``(B) held hostage abroad.
            ``(2) Application to spouse.--The provisions of paragraph 
        (1) shall apply to the spouse of any individual entitled to the 
        benefits of such paragraph.
    ``(b) Applicable Individual.--
            ``(1) In general.--For purposes of this section, the term 
        `applicable individual' means any individual who is--
                    ``(A) included on the list of United States 
                nationals unlawfully or wrongfully detained that is 
                included in the annual report required under section 
                302(c) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and 
                Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741(c)), 
                or
                    ``(B) a United States national taken hostage 
                abroad, as determined pursuant to the findings of the 
                Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (as described in section 
                304 of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and 
                Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741b)).
            ``(2) Information provided to treasury.--For purposes of 
        identifying individuals described in paragraph (1), not later 
        than January 1, 2024, and annually thereafter--
                    ``(A) the Secretary of State shall provide the 
                Secretary with the report described in paragraph 
                (1)(A), as well as any other information necessary to 
                identify the individuals described in such report, and
                    ``(B) the Attorney General, acting through the 
                Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, shall provide the 
                Secretary with a list of the individuals described in 
                paragraph (1)(B), as well as any other information 
                necessary to identify such individuals.
    ``(c) Refund and Abatement of Penalties and Fines Imposed Prior to 
Identification as Applicable Individual.--In the case of any applicable 
individual--
            ``(1) for whom any interest, penalty, additional amount, or 
        addition to the tax in respect to any tax liability for any 
        taxable year ending during the period described in subsection 
        (a)(1) was assessed or collected, and
            ``(2) who was, subsequent to such assessment or collection, 
        included on the list described in subsection (b)(1)(A) or 
        determined pursuant to subsection (b)(1)(B) to be a United 
        States national taken hostage abroad,
the Secretary shall abate any such assessment and refund any amount 
collected to such applicable individual in the same manner as any 
refund of an overpayment of tax.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for chapter 77 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 
item relating to section 7510 the following new item:

``Sec. 7511. Time for performing certain acts postponed for hostages 
                            and individuals wrongfully detained 
                            abroad.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years ending after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND FINES PAID BY ELIGIBLE 
              INDIVIDUALS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7511 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 
as added by section 2, is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection:
    ``(c) Refund and Abatement of Penalties and Fines Paid by Eligible 
Individuals.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--Not later than January 1, 
                2024, the Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary 
                of State and the Attorney General) shall establish a 
                program to allow any eligible individual (or the spouse 
                or any dependent (as defined in section 152) of such 
                individual) to apply for a refund or an abatement of 
                any amount described in paragraph (2) (including 
                interest) to the extent such amount was attributable to 
                the applicable period.
                    ``(B) Identification of individuals.--Not later 
                than January 1, 2024, the Secretary of State and the 
                Attorney General, acting through the Hostage Recovery 
                Fusion Cell (as described in section 304 of the Robert 
                Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking 
                Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741b)), shall--
                            ``(i) compile a list, based on such 
                        information as is available, of individuals who 
                        were applicable individuals during the 
                        applicable period, and
                            ``(ii) provide the list described in clause 
                        (i) to the Secretary.
                    ``(C) Notice.--For purposes of carrying out the 
                program described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                (in consultation with the Secretary of State and the 
                Attorney General) shall, with respect to any individual 
                identified under subparagraph (B), provide notice to 
                such individual--
                            ``(i) in the case of an individual who has 
                        been released on or before the date of 
                        enactment of this subsection, not later than 90 
                        days after the date of enactment of this 
                        subsection, or
                            ``(ii) in the case of an individual who is 
                        released after the date of enactment of this 
                        subsection, not later than 90 days after the 
                        date on which such individual is released,
                that such individual may be eligible for a refund or an 
                abatement of any amount described in paragraph (2) 
                pursuant to the program described in subparagraph (A).
                    ``(D) Authorization.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to clause (ii), 
                        in the case of any refund described in 
                        subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall issue 
                        such refund to the eligible individual in the 
                        same manner as any refund of an overpayment of 
                        tax.
                            ``(ii) Extension of limitation on time for 
                        refund.--With respect to any refund under 
                        subparagraph (A)--
                                    ``(I) the 3-year period of 
                                limitation prescribed by section 
                                6511(a) shall not expire before the 
                                date which is 1 year after the date the 
                                notice described in subparagraph (C) is 
                                provided to the eligible individual, 
                                and
                                    ``(II) any limitation under section 
                                6511(b)(2) shall not apply.
            ``(2) Eligible individual.--For purposes of this 
        subsection, the term `eligible individual' means any applicable 
        individual who, for any taxable year ending during the 
        applicable period, paid or incurred any interest, penalty, 
        additional amount, or addition to the tax in respect to any tax 
        liability for such year of such individual based on a 
        determination that an act described in paragraph (1) of section 
        7508(a) which was not performed by the time prescribed therefor 
        (without regard to any extensions).
            ``(3) Applicable period.--For purposes of this subsection, 
        the term `applicable period' means the period--
                    ``(A) beginning on January 1, 2021, and
                    ``(B) ending on the date of enactment of this 
                subsection.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to taxable years ending on or before the date of enactment of this Act.
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