I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 9431 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from gross income 
the discharge of indebtedness of certain individuals who are unlawfully 
or wrongfully detained abroad. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 30, 2024 
Mr. BACON (for himself and Mr. GOTTHEIMER) 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 exclude 
from gross income the discharge of indebtedness of cer-
tain individuals who are unlawfully or wrongfully de-
tained abroad. 
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 ‘‘Hostage Private Debt 
Tax Freedom Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXCLUSION FROM GROSS INCOME OF DISCHARGE 
OF INDEBTEDNESS OF CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS 
UNLAWFULLY OR WRONGFULLY DETAINED 
ABROAD. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 108(a)(1) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 
end of subparagraph (D), by striking the period at the 
end of subparagraph (E) and inserting ‘‘, or’’, and by add-
ing at the end the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) in the case of a wrongfully detained 
abroad individual or such individual’s spouse, 
the indebtedness discharged is specified wrong-
fully detained indebtedness.’’. 
(b) RULES RELATED TO WRONGFULLY DETAINED 
ABROAD INDIVIDUALS.—Section 108 of such Code is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(j) PROVISIONS RELATED TO WRONGFULLY DE-
TAINED ABROAD INDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘wrongfully de-
tained abroad individual’ means any United States 
national (as defined in section 307 of the Robert 
Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Ac-
countability Act) if the Secretary of State has deter-
mined for purposes of section 302(b) of such Act 
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that there is credible information that such United 
States national is wrongfully or unlawfully detained 
abroad. 
‘‘(2) SPECIFIED
WRONGFULLY
DETAINED
IN-
DEBTEDNESS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘specified 
wrongfully detained indebtedness’ means, with 
respect to any wrongfully detained abroad indi-
vidual, any indebtedness— 
‘‘(i) which is discharged during the 
period beginning on the date on which 
such individual is first wrongfully or un-
lawfully detained and ending on the date 
that is 2 years after the conclusion of such 
detention, and 
‘‘(ii) with respect to which the tax-
payer elects (at such time and in such 
manner as the Secretary may provide) the 
application of this subparagraph. 
‘‘(B) DOLLAR
LIMITATION.—The aggre-
gate amount of indebtedness which may be 
treated as specified wrongfully detained indebt-
edness with respect to any wrongfully detained 
abroad individual (including any amount treat-
ed as such indebtedness with respect to such in-
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