II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4878 

To recover economic impact payments made to holders of nonimmigrant 

visas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26 (legislative day, OCTOBER 19), 2020 

Mr. PAUL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To recover economic impact payments made to holders of 

nonimmigrant visas, 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. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stopping Improper 

5 Payments to Foreigners Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY RULES FOR ECO7 NOMIC IMPACT PAYMENTS. 

8 (a) PROHIBITION ON ELIGIBILITY FOR CERTAIN

9 HOLDERS OF NONIMMIGRANT VISAS.— 

10 (1) MODIFICATION.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Section 6428(d) of the 

2 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

3 striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (2), by 

4 striking the period at the end of paragraph (3) 

5 and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end 

6 the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) any resident alien individual holding a 

8 nonimmigrant visa during the taxable year (other 

9 than such an individual who was subsequently grant10 ed an immigrant visa before the last day of such 

11 taxable year).’’. 

12 (B) SPECIAL RULE FOR ADVANCED RE13 FUNDS.—Section 6428(f)(2) is amended by in14 serting ‘‘(determined by substituting ‘the date 

15 of the enactment of this section’ for ‘the last 

16 day of such taxable year’ in subsection (d)(4))’’ 

17 after ‘‘taxable year’’. 

18 (C) CONFORMING AMENDMENT RELATED

19 TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.—Section 

20 6428(g)(3) is amended by inserting ‘‘and sub21 section (d)(4)’’ after ‘‘Paragraph (1)(B)’’. 

22 (2) ENFORCEMENT.— 

23 (A) INFORMATION PROVIDED BY DEPART24 MENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.—Upon the reVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:04 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4878.IS S4878

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1 quest of the Secretary, the Secretary of Home2 land Security shall identify for the Secretary— 

3 (i) whether an individual was granted 

4 a nonimmigrant visa for any period identi5 fied in such request, and 

6 (ii) whether any individual described 

7 in clause (i) was subsequently granted an 

8 immigrant visa, and the date any such visa 

9 was granted. 

10 (B) LIMITATION ON USE OF INFORMA11 TION.—Any information provided to the Sec12 retary under subparagraph (A) shall only be 

13 used by the Secretary to determine eligibility 

14 for the credit allowed under section 6428 of the 

15 Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

16 (C) SECRETARY.—For purposes of this 

17 paragraph, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the 

18 Secretary of the Treasury (or the Secretary’s 

19 delegate). 

20 (b) RECOVERY OF ECONOMIC IMPACT PAYMENTS.— 

21 (1) REVIEW OF PREVIOUSLY PAID ADVANCED

22 REFUND AMOUNTS.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

23 (or the Secretary’s delegate) shall— 


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1 (A) review payments of advanced refund 

2 amounts allowed under section 6428(f) of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and 

4 (B) identify individuals described in section 

5 6428(d)(4) to whom such payments were made. 

6 (2) DENIAL OF ISSUANCE OF VISA.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter D of chap8 ter 75 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following 

10 new section: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 7346. PROHIBITION OF VISA ISSUANCE IN CASE OF 

12 FAILURE TO REPAY INELIGIBLE RECOVERY 

13 REBATE REFUNDS. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary receives certifi15 cation by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue that an 

16 individual has an unpaid ineligible recovery rebate refund, 

17 the Secretary shall transmit such certification to the Sec18 retary of Homeland Security for action with respect to de19 nial of a visa pursuant to section 210(a)(12)(F) of the 

20 Immigration and Nationality Act. 

21 ‘‘(b) UNPAID INELIGIBLE RECOVERY REBATE RE22 FUND.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘unpaid in23 eligible recovery rebate refund’ means any amount treated 

24 as payment by an individual against the tax imposed by 

25 chapter 1 by reason of section 6428(f) if— 


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1 ‘‘(1) such individual was a resident alien indi2 vidual holding a nonimmigrant visa during the tax3 able year for which payment is treated as having 

4 been made (other than an individual subsequently 

5 granted an immigrant visa before the date of the en6 actment of such section or an individual described in 

7 section 6824(g)(3)), and 

8 ‘‘(2) such individual has not repaid the amount 

9 of any credit or refund as a result of such treat10 ment. 

11 ‘‘(c) REVERSAL OF CERTIFICATION.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual 

13 with respect to whom the Commissioner makes a 

14 certification under subsection (a), the Commissioner 

15 shall notify the Secretary (and the Secretary shall 

16 subsequently notify the Secretary of Homeland Se17 curity) if such certification is found to be erroneous 

18 or if the unpaid ineligible recovery rebate with re19 spect to such certification has been repaid. 

20 ‘‘(2) TIMING OF NOTICE.—The notification 

21 under paragraph (1) shall be made as soon as prac22 ticable. 

23 ‘‘(d) CONTEMPORANEOUS NOTICE TO INDIVIDUAL.— 

24 The Commissioner shall contemporaneously notify an indi25 vidual of any certification under subsection (a), or any reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:22 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4878.IS S4878

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1 versal of certification under subsection (c), with respect 

2 to such individual. Such notice shall include a description 

3 in simple and nontechnical terms of the right to bring a 

4 civil action under subsection (e). 

5 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CERTIFICATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—After the Commissioner no7 tifies an individual under subsection (d), the tax8 payer may bring a civil action against the United 

9 States in a district court of the United States, or 

10 against the Commissioner in the Tax Court, to de11 termine whether the certification was erroneous or 

12 whether the Commissioner has failed to reverse the 

13 certification. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 

14 the court first acquiring jurisdiction over such an ac15 tion shall have sole jurisdiction. 

16 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—If the court determines 

17 that such certification was erroneous, then the court 

18 may order the Secretary to notify the Secretary of 

19 Homeland Security that such certification was erro20 neous. 

21 ‘‘(f) DELEGATION OF CERTIFICATION.—A certifi22 cation under subsection (a) or reversal of certification 

23 under subsection (c) may only be delegated by the Com24 missioner of Internal Revenue to the Deputy CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:22 Nov 04, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4878.IS S4878

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1 sioner for Services and Enforcement, or the Commissioner 

2 of an operating division, of the Internal Revenue Service.’’. 

3 (B) AUTHORITY FOR INFORMATION SHAR4 ING.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—Section 6103(k) of 

6 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

7 amended by adding at the end the fol8 lowing new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(15) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

10 TO DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOR

11 PURPOSES OF VISA ISSUANCE PROHIBITION UNDER

12 SECTION 7346.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, 

14 upon receiving a certification described in sec15 tion 7346, disclose to the Secretary of Home16 land Security return information with respect to 

17 a taxpayer who has an unpaid ineligible recov18 ery rebate refund described in such section. 

19 Such return information shall be limited to— 

20 ‘‘(i) the taxpayer identity information 

21 with respect to such taxpayer, and 

22 ‘‘(ii) the amount of such unpaid ineli23 gible recovery rebate refund. 

24 ‘‘(B) RESTRICTION ON DISCLOSURE.—Re25 turn information disclosed under subparagraph 


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1 (A) may be used by officers and employees of 

2 the Department of Homeland Security for the 

3 purposes of, and to the extent necessary in, car4 rying out the requirements of section 

5 210(a)(12)(F) of the Immigration and Nation6 ality Act.’’. 

7 (ii) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

8 Paragraph (4) of section 6103(p) of such 

9 Code is amended by striking ‘‘or (11)’’ 

10 each place it appears in subparagraph 

11 (F)(ii) and in the matter preceding sub12 paragraph (A) and inserting ‘‘(11), or 

13 (15)’’. 

14 (C) GROUNDS FOR INELIGIBILITY.—Sec15 tion 212(a)(10) of the Immigration and Nation16 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1182(a)(10)) is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(F) UNPAID INELIGIBLE RECOVERY RE19 BATE REFUND.—Any alien who has been cer20 tified by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

21 (or designee) as having an unpaid ineligible re22 covery rebate refund (as defined in section 7346 

23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and has 

24 failed to reimburse the United States Treasury 

25 for such debt is inadmissible.’’. 


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1 (D) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

2 sections for subchapter D of chapter 75 of the 

3 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

4 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7346. Prohibition of visa issuance in case of failure to repay ineligible recovery rebate refunds.’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATES.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para7 graph (2), the provisions of, and amendments made 

8 by, this section shall take effect on the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act. 

10 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—The amendments made by 

11 subsection (a)(1) shall take effect as if included in 

12 section 2201 of division B of the CARES Act. 

Æ 


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