[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1679 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1679
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 18, 2023
Mr. Coons (for himself and Mr. Rounds) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
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) 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--
``(1) unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, or
``(2) held hostage abroad.
``(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 in a manner consistent with 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) Application to Spouse.--The provisions of this section shall
apply to the spouse of any individual entitled to the benefits of
subsection (a).''.
(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. REIMBURSEMENT AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND FINES PAID BY
ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.
(a) In General.--
(1) 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 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) of such
individual) to apply for reimbursement or abatement of any
amount described in subsection (b) (including interest) to the
extent such amount was attributable to the applicable period.
(2) Notice.--For purposes of carrying out the program
described in paragraph (1), the Secretary (in consultation with
the Secretary of State and the Attorney General) shall, with
respect to any individual identified under subsection (c),
provide notice to such individual--
(A) in the case of an individual who has been
released on or before the date of enactment of this
Act, not later than 90 days after the date of enactment
of this Act; or
(B) in the case of an individual who is released
after the date of enactment of this Act, not later than
90 days after the date on which such individual is
released,
that such individual may be eligible for reimbursement of any
amount described in subsection (b) pursuant to the program
described in paragraph (1).
(3) Authorization.--
(A) In general.--Subject to subparagraph (B), in
the case of any reimbursement described in paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall issue such reimbursement to
the eligible individual in the same manner as any
refund of an overpayment of tax.
(B) Extension of limitation on time for
reimbursement.--With respect to any reimbursement under
paragraph (1)--
(i) the 3-year period of limitation
prescribed by section 6511(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 shall not expire before
the date which is 1 year after the date the
notice described in paragraph (2) is provided
to the eligible individual; and
(ii) any limitation under section
6511(b)(2) of such Code shall not apply.
(b) Eligible Individual.--For purposes of this section, the term
``eligible individual'' means any applicable individual (as defined in
section 7511(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) 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)
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which was not performed by the
time prescribed therefor (without regard to any extensions).
(c) 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--
(1) compile a list, based on such information as is
available, of United States nationals who, during the
applicable period--
(A) were included on the list described in section
7511(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or
(B) the Attorney General determined, based on
credible information, were taken hostage abroad; and
(2) provide the list described in paragraph (1) to the
Secretary.
(d) Applicable Period.--For purposes of this section, the term
``applicable period'' means the period--
(1) beginning on January 1, 2021; and
(2) ending on the date of enactment of this Act.
(e) Secretary.--For purposes of this section, the term
``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary's
delegate.
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