I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Stop Tax Penalties 

5 on American Hostages Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. POSTPONEMENT OF TAX DEADLINES FOR HOS2 TAGES AND INDIVIDUALS WRONGFULLY DE3 TAINED ABROAD. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev5 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 

6 7510 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 7511. TIME FOR PERFORMING CERTAIN ACTS POST8 PONED FOR HOSTAGES AND INDIVIDUALS 

9 WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD. 

10 ‘‘(a) TIME TO BE DISREGARDED.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any applicable individual 

12 shall be entitled to the benefits of section 7508 in 

13 the same manner as if such individual was per14 forming services described in subsection (a) of such 

15 section for any period in which such individual 

16 was— 

17 ‘‘(A) unlawfully or wrongfully detained 

18 abroad, or 

19 ‘‘(B) held hostage abroad. 

20 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO SPOUSE.—The provisions 

21 of paragraph (1) shall apply to the spouse of any in22 dividual entitled to the benefits of such paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(b) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec25 tion, the term ‘applicable individual’ means any indi26 vidual who is— 


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1 ‘‘(A) included on the list of United States 

2 nationals unlawfully or wrongfully detained that 

3 is included in the annual report required under 

4 section 302(c) of the Robert Levinson Hostage 

5 Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability 

6 Act (22 U.S.C. 1741(c)), or 

7 ‘‘(B) a United States national taken hos8 tage abroad, as determined pursuant to the 

9 findings of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell 

10 (as described in section 304 of the Robert 

11 Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Tak12 ing Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741b)). 

13 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION PROVIDED TO TREASURY.— 

14 For purposes of identifying individuals described in 

15 paragraph (1), not later than January 1, 2024, and 

16 annually thereafter— 

17 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of State shall provide 

18 the Secretary with the report described in para19 graph (1)(A), as well as any other information 

20 necessary to identify the individuals described 

21 in such report, and 

22 ‘‘(B) the Attorney General, acting through 

23 the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, shall provide 

24 the Secretary with a list of the individuals de25 scribed in paragraph (1)(B), as well as any 


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1 other information necessary to identify such in2 dividuals. 

3 ‘‘(c) REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND

4 FINES IMPOSED PRIOR TO IDENTIFICATION AS APPLICA5 BLE INDIVIDUAL.—In the case of any applicable indi6 vidual— 

7 ‘‘(1) for whom any interest, penalty, additional 

8 amount, or addition to the tax in respect to any tax 

9 liability for any taxable year ending during the pe10 riod described in subsection (a)(1) was assessed or 

11 collected, and 

12 ‘‘(2) who was, subsequent to such assessment 

13 or collection, included on the list described in sub14 section (b)(1)(A) or determined pursuant to sub15 section (b)(1)(B) to be a United States national 

16 taken hostage abroad, 

17 the Secretary shall abate any such assessment and refund 

18 any amount collected to such applicable individual in the 

19 same manner as any refund of an overpayment of tax.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

22 amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

23 7510 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7511. Time for performing certain acts postponed for hostages and individuals wrongfully detained abroad.’’. 


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

2 this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 

3 date of enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 3. REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND 

5 FINES PAID BY ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7511 of the Internal Rev7 enue Code of 1986, as added by section 2, is amended 

8 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(c) REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND

10 FINES PAID BY ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

12 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 

13 January 1, 2024, the Secretary (in consultation 

14 with the Secretary of State and the Attorney 

15 General) shall establish a program to allow any 

16 eligible individual (or the spouse or any depend17 ent (as defined in section 152) of such indi18 vidual) to apply for a refund or an abatement 

19 of any amount described in paragraph (2) (in20 cluding interest) to the extent such amount was 

21 attributable to the applicable period. 

22 ‘‘(B) IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS.— 

23 Not later than January 1, 2024, the Secretary 

24 of State and the Attorney General, acting 

25 through the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (as 


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1 described in section 304 of the Robert Levinson 

2 Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Ac3 countability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741b)), shall— 

4 ‘‘(i) compile a list, based on such in5 formation as is available, of individuals 

6 who were applicable individuals during the 

7 applicable period, and 

8 ‘‘(ii) provide the list described in 

9 clause (i) to the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(C) NOTICE.—For purposes of carrying 

11 out the program described in subparagraph (A), 

12 the Secretary (in consultation with the Sec13 retary of State and the Attorney General) shall, 

14 with respect to any individual identified under 

15 subparagraph (B), provide notice to such indi16 vidual— 

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of an individual who 

18 has been released on or before the date of 

19 enactment of this subsection, not later 

20 than 90 days after the date of enactment 

21 of this subsection, or 

22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual who 

23 is released after the date of enactment of 

24 this subsection, not later than 90 days 


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1 after the date on which such individual is 

2 released, 

3 that such individual may be eligible for a refund 

4 or an abatement of any amount described in 

5 paragraph (2) pursuant to the program de6 scribed in subparagraph (A). 

7 ‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

9 (ii), in the case of any refund described in 

10 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 

11 issue such refund to the eligible individual 

12 in the same manner as any refund of an 

13 overpayment of tax. 

14 ‘‘(ii) EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON

15 TIME FOR REFUND.—With respect to any 

16 refund under subparagraph (A)— 

17 ‘‘(I) the 3-year period of limita18 tion prescribed by section 6511(a) 

19 shall not expire before the date which 

20 is 1 year after the date the notice de21 scribed in subparagraph (C) is pro22 vided to the eligible individual, and 

23 ‘‘(II) any limitation under section 

24 6511(b)(2) shall not apply. 


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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of 

2 this subsection, the term ‘eligible individual’ means 

3 any applicable individual who, for any taxable year 

4 ending during the applicable period, paid or incurred 

5 any interest, penalty, additional amount, or addition 

6 to the tax in respect to any tax liability for such 

7 year of such individual based on a determination 

8 that an act described in paragraph (1) of section 

9 7508(a) which was not performed by the time pre10 scribed therefor (without regard to any extensions). 

11 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

12 this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 

13 the period— 

14 ‘‘(A) beginning on January 1, 2021, and 

15 ‘‘(B) ending on the date of enactment of 

16 this subsection.’’. 

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

18 this section shall apply to taxable years ending on or be19 fore the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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