I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5027 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide relief for taxpayers 
affected by disasters or other critical events. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 13, 2021 
Mr. RICE of South Carolina (for himself and Ms. DELBENE) 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 provide 
relief for taxpayers affected by disasters or other critical 
events. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Automatic Relief for 
Taxpayers Affected by Major Disasters and Critical 
Events Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF CER-
TAIN DEADLINES IN THE CASE OF TAX-
PAYERS 
AFFECTED 
BY 
FEDERALLY 
DE-
CLARED DISASTERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7508A(d) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘the latest incident date so 
specified’’ in subparagraph (B) and inserting 
‘‘the later of such earliest incident date de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) or the date such 
declaration was issued’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘in the same manner as a 
period specified under subsection (a)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘in determining, under the internal rev-
enue laws, in respect of any tax liability of such 
qualified taxpayer, whether any of the acts de-
scribed in subparagraphs (A) through (F) of 
section 7508(a)(1) were performed within the 
time prescribed therefor (determined without 
regard to extension under any other provision 
of this subtitle for periods after the date deter-
mined under subparagraph (B))’’; 
(2) by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the 
following: 
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‘‘(3) DISASTER
AREA.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘disaster area’ means an area 
in which a major disaster for which the President 
provides financial assistance under section 408 of 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emer-
gency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5174) occurs.’’; 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) MULTIPLE DECLARATIONS.—For purposes 
of paragraph (1), in the case of multiple declarations 
relating to a disaster area which are issued within 
a 60-day period, a separate period shall be deter-
mined under such paragraph with respect to each 
such declaration.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to federally declared disasters de-
clared after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS OF RULES FOR POSTPONING CER-
TAIN ACTS BY REASON OF SERVICE IN COM-
BAT ZONE OR CONTINGENCY OPERATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7508(a)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 
the following: 
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‘‘(C) Filing a petition with the Tax Court, 
or filing a notice of appeal from a decision of 
the Tax Court;’’; and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘or in respect of any erroneous 
refund’’ after ‘‘any tax’’ in subparagraph (J). 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to any period for performing an 
act which has not expired before the date of the enactment 
of this Act. 
SEC. 4. TOLLING OF TIME FOR FILING A PETITION WITH 
THE TAX COURT. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7451 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘The Tax Court’’ and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(a) FEES.—The Tax Court’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(b) TOLLING OF TIME IN CERTAIN CASES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of this title, in any case (including by rea-
son of a lapse in appropriations) in which a filing lo-
cation is inaccessible or otherwise unavailable to the 
general public on the date a petition is due, the rel-
evant time period for filing such petition shall be 
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tolled for the number of days within the period of 
inaccessibility plus an additional 14 days. 
‘‘(2) FILING LOCATION.—For purposes of this 
subsection, the term ‘filing location’ means— 
‘‘(A) the office of the clerk of the Tax 
Court, or 
‘‘(B) any on-line portal made available by 
the Tax Court for electronic filing of peti-
tions.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) The heading for section 7451 of the Inter-
nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 
‘‘FEE FOR FILING PETITION’’ and inserting ‘‘PE-
TITIONS’’. 
(2) The item in the table of contents for part 
II of subchapter C of chapter 76 of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘Fee for filing petition’’ and in-
serting ‘‘Petitions’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to petitions required to be timely 
filed (determined without regard to the amendments made 
by this section) after the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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