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 unlaw-
fully or wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad, and for other pur-
poses. 
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 Com-
mittee 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 de-
tained or held hostage abroad, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Stop Tax Penalties 
on American Hostages Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. POSTPONEMENT OF TAX DEADLINES FOR HOS-
TAGES AND INDIVIDUALS WRONGFULLY DE-
TAINED ABROAD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 
7510 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 7511. TIME FOR PERFORMING CERTAIN ACTS POST-
PONED FOR HOSTAGES AND INDIVIDUALS 
WRONGFULLY DETAINED ABROAD. 
‘‘(a) TIME TO BE DISREGARDED.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any applicable individual 
shall be entitled to the benefits of section 7508 in 
the same manner as if such individual was per-
forming services described in subsection (a) of such 
section for any period in which such individual 
was— 
‘‘(A) unlawfully or wrongfully detained 
abroad, or 
‘‘(B) held hostage abroad. 
‘‘(2) APPLICATION TO SPOUSE.—The provisions 
of paragraph (1) shall apply to the spouse of any in-
dividual entitled to the benefits of such paragraph. 
‘‘(b) APPLICABLE INDIVIDUAL.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘applicable individual’ means any indi-
vidual who is— 
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other information necessary to identify such in-
dividuals. 
‘‘(c) REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND 
FINES IMPOSED PRIOR TO IDENTIFICATION AS APPLICA-
BLE INDIVIDUAL.—In the case of any applicable indi-
vidual— 
‘‘(1) for whom any interest, penalty, additional 
amount, or addition to the tax in respect to any tax 
liability for any taxable year ending during the pe-
riod described in subsection (a)(1) was assessed or 
collected, and 
‘‘(2) who was, subsequent to such assessment 
or collection, included on the list described in sub-
section (b)(1)(A) or determined pursuant to sub-
section (b)(1)(B) to be a United States national 
taken hostage abroad, 
the Secretary shall abate any such assessment and refund 
any amount collected to such applicable individual in the 
same manner as any refund of an overpayment of tax.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for chapter 77 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
7510 the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 7511. Time for performing certain acts postponed for hostages and indi-
viduals wrongfully detained abroad.’’. 
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(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years ending after the 
date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 3. REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND 
FINES PAID BY ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7511 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986, as added by section 2, is amended 
by adding at the end the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) REFUND AND ABATEMENT OF PENALTIES AND 
FINES PAID BY ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 
January 1, 2024, the Secretary (in consultation 
with the Secretary of State and the Attorney 
General) shall establish a program to allow any 
eligible individual (or the spouse or any depend-
ent (as defined in section 152) of such indi-
vidual) to apply for a refund or an abatement 
of any amount described in paragraph (2) (in-
cluding interest) to the extent such amount was 
attributable to the applicable period. 
‘‘(B) IDENTIFICATION OF INDIVIDUALS.— 
Not later than January 1, 2024, the Secretary 
of State and the Attorney General, acting 
through the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell (as 
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described in section 304 of the Robert Levinson 
Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Ac-
countability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741b)), shall— 
‘‘(i) compile a list, based on such in-
formation as is available, of individuals 
who were applicable individuals during the 
applicable period, and 
‘‘(ii) provide the list described in 
clause (i) to the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) NOTICE.—For purposes of carrying 
out the program described in subparagraph (A), 
the Secretary (in consultation with the Sec-
retary of State and the Attorney General) shall, 
with respect to any individual identified under 
subparagraph (B), provide notice to such indi-
vidual— 
‘‘(i) in the case of an individual who 
has been released on or before the date of 
enactment of this subsection, not later 
than 90 days after the date of enactment 
of this subsection, or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of an individual who 
is released after the date of enactment of 
this subsection, not later than 90 days 
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after the date on which such individual is 
released, 
that such individual may be eligible for a refund 
or an abatement of any amount described in 
paragraph (2) pursuant to the program de-
scribed in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(D) AUTHORIZATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 
(ii), in the case of any refund described in 
subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall 
issue such refund to the eligible individual 
in the same manner as any refund of an 
overpayment of tax. 
‘‘(ii) EXTENSION OF LIMITATION ON 
TIME FOR REFUND.—With respect to any 
refund under subparagraph (A)— 
‘‘(I) the 3-year period of limita-
tion prescribed by section 6511(a) 
shall not expire before the date which 
is 1 year after the date the notice de-
scribed in subparagraph (C) is pro-
vided to the eligible individual, and 
‘‘(II) any limitation under section 
6511(b)(2) shall not apply. 
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‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the term ‘eligible individual’ means 
any applicable individual who, for any taxable year 
ending during the applicable period, paid or incurred 
any interest, penalty, additional amount, or addition 
to the tax in respect to any tax liability for such 
year of such individual based on a determination 
that an act described in paragraph (1) of section 
7508(a) which was not performed by the time pre-
scribed therefor (without regard to any extensions). 
‘‘(3) APPLICABLE
PERIOD.—For purposes of 
this subsection, the term ‘applicable period’ means 
the period— 
‘‘(A) beginning on January 1, 2021, and 
‘‘(B) ending on the date of enactment of 
this subsection.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years ending on or be-
fore the date of enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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