II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5039 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the automatic 

extension of certain deadlines in the case of taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 16, 2020 

Mr. PORTMAN 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 modify 

the automatic extension of certain deadlines in the case 

of taxpayers affected by federally declared disasters, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF 

4 CERTAIN DEADLINES IN THE CASE OF TAX5 PAYERS AFFECTED BY FEDERALLY DE6 CLARED DISASTERS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7508A(d)(1) of the Inter8 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 


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•S 5039 IS

1 (1) by striking ‘‘the latest incident period so 

2 specified’’ in subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘the 

3 later of such earliest incident date described in sub4 paragraph (A) or the date such declaration was 

5 issued’’, and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘in the same manner as a period 

7 specified under subsection (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘in de8 termining, under the internal revenue laws, in re9 spect of any tax liability of such qualified taxpayer, 

10 the acts and amounts described in subsection (a)’’. 

11 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

12 this section shall apply to federally declared disasters de13 clared after December 31, 2019. 

14 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS OF RULES FOR POSTPONING CER15 TAIN ACTS BY REASON OF SERVICE IN COM16 BAT ZONE OR CONTINGENCY OPERATION. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7508(a)(1) of the Internal 

18 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

19 (1) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

20 the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) Filing a petition with the Tax Court, 

22 or filing a notice of appeal from a decision of 

23 the Tax Court;’’, and 

24 (2) by inserting ‘‘or in respect of any erroneous 

25 refund’’ after ‘‘any tax’’ in subparagraph (J). 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to any period for performing an 

3 act which has not expired before the date of the enactment 

4 of this Act. 

5 SEC. 3. TOLLING OF TIME FOR FILING A PETITION WITH 

6 THE TAX COURT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7451 of the Internal Rev8 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Tax Court’’ and inserting 

10 the following: 

11 ‘‘(a) FEES.—The Tax Court’’, and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub13 section: 

14 ‘‘(b) TOLLING OF TIME IN CERTAIN CASES.—Not15 withstanding any other provision of this title, in any case 

16 in which the location for filing a petition or the office of 

17 the clerk of the Tax Court is inaccessible (including by 

18 reason of a lapse in appropriations), the relevant time pe19 riod for filing such petition shall be tolled— 

20 ‘‘(1) in any case in which the period of inacces21 sibility was not more than 5 days, for the number 

22 of days within such period, and 

23 ‘‘(2) in any case in which the period of inacces24 sibility was 5 days or more, for the number of days 

25 within such period plus an additional 14 days.’’. 


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1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

2 (1) The heading for section 7451 of the Inter3 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘FEE FOR FILING PETITION’’ and inserting ‘‘PE5 TITIONS’’. 

6 (2) The item in the table of contents for part 

7 II of subchapter C of chapter 76 of such Code is 

8 amended by striking ‘‘Fee for filing petition’’ and in9 serting ‘‘Petitions’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to petitions required to be timely 

12 filed (determined without regard to the amendments made 

13 by this section) on or after February 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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