II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2581 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide relief for taxpayers 

affected by disasters or other critical events. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself and Mr. BENNET) 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 provide 

relief for taxpayers affected by disasters or other critical 

events. 

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 ‘‘Automatic Relief for 

5 Taxpayers Affected by Major Disasters and Critical 

6 Events Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF CER2 TAIN DEADLINES IN THE CASE OF TAX3 PAYERS AFFECTED BY FEDERALLY DE4 CLARED DISASTERS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7508A(d) of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘the latest incident date so 

9 specified’’ in subparagraph (B) and inserting 

10 ‘‘the later of such earliest incident date de11 scribed in subparagraph (A) or the date such 

12 declaration was issued’’, and 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘in the same manner as a 

14 period specified under subsection (a)’’ and in15 serting ‘‘in determining, under the internal rev16 enue laws, in respect of any tax liability of such 

17 qualified taxpayer, whether any of the acts de18 scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of 

19 section 7508(a)(1) were performed within the 

20 time prescribed therefor (determined without 

21 regard to extension under any other provision 

22 of this subtitle for periods after the date deter23 mined under subparagraph (B))’’, 

24 (2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 

25 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) DISASTER AREA.—For purposes of this 

2 subsection, the term ‘disaster area’ means an area 

3 in which a major disaster for which the President 

4 provides financial assistance under section 408 of 

5 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer6 gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) occurs.’’, 

7 and 

8 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(6) MULTIPLE DECLARATIONS.—For purposes 

10 of paragraph (1), in the case of multiple declarations 

11 relating to a disaster area which are issued within 

12 a 60-day period, a separate period shall be deter13 mined under such paragraph with respect to each 

14 such declaration.’’. 

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

16 this section shall apply to federally declared disasters de17 clared after the date of enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS OF RULES FOR POSTPONING CER19 TAIN ACTS BY REASON OF SERVICE IN COM20 BAT ZONE OR CONTINGENCY OPERATION. 

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

22 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

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

24 the following: 


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

2 or filing a notice of appeal from a decision of 

3 the Tax Court;’’, and 

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

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

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

7 this section shall apply to any period for performing an 

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

9 of this Act. 

10 SEC. 4. TOLLING OF TIME FOR FILING A PETITION WITH 

11 THE TAX COURT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7451 of the Internal Rev13 enue Code of 1986 is amended— 

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

15 the following: 

16 ‘‘(a) FEES.—The Tax Court’’, and 

17 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub18 section: 

19 ‘‘(b) TOLLING OF TIME IN CERTAIN CASES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

21 provision of this title, in any case (including by rea22 son of a lapse in appropriations) in which a filing lo23 cation is inaccessible or otherwise unavailable to the 

24 general public on the date a petition is due, the rel25 evant time period for filing such petition shall be 


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1 tolled for the number of days within the period of 

2 inaccessibility plus an additional 14 days. 

3 ‘‘(2) FILING LOCATION.—For purposes of this 

4 subsection, the term ‘filing location’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) the office of the clerk of the Tax 

6 Court, or 

7 ‘‘(B) any on-line portal made available by 

8 the Tax Court for electronic filing of peti9 tions.’’. 

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

11 (1) The heading for section 7451 of the Inter12 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

13 ‘‘FEE FOR FILING PETITION’’ and inserting ‘‘PE14 TITIONS’’. 

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

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

17 amended by striking ‘‘Fee for filing petition’’ and in18 serting ‘‘Petitions’’. 

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

20 this section shall apply to petitions required to be timely 

21 filed (determined without regard to the amendments made 

22 by this section) after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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