SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; ETC. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Tax Court Improvement Act’’. 
(b) AMENDMENT OF 1986 CODE.—Except as other-
wise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an amend-
ment is expressed in terms of an amendment to a section 
or other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
made to a section or other provision of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; etc. 
Sec. 2. Authorization of subpoenas before hearings to facilitate settlements. 
Sec. 3. Authorization of special trial judges to hear additional cases and ad-
dress contempt. 
Sec. 4. Disqualification of judges and special trial judges. 
Sec. 5. Clarification of Tax Court jurisdiction to apply equitable tolling in defi-
ciency cases.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF SUBPOENAS BEFORE HEAR-
INGS TO FACILITATE SETTLEMENTS. 
Section 7456(a) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(1) ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS.—For the ef-
ficient administration of the functions vested in the 
Tax Court or any division thereof, any judge or spe-
cial trial judge, the clerk or the clerk’s deputies, as 
such, or any other employee of the Tax Court des-
ignated in writing for the purpose by the chief judge, 
may administer oaths or affirmations.
‘‘(2) SUBPOENA
AUTHORITY.—Any judge or 
special trial judge may examine witnesses and re-
quire, by subpoena ordered by the Tax Court or any 
division thereof and signed by the judge or special 
trial judge (or by the clerk of the Tax Court or by 
any other employee of the Tax Court when acting as 
deputy clerk), any of the following: 
‘‘(A) The attendance of parties or wit-
nesses. 
‘‘(B) The production of books, papers, doc-
uments, electronically stored information, or 
tangible things from any place in the United 
States by any party or witness having custody 
or control thereof for purposes of discovery or 
for use of the things produced as evidence in 
accordance with the rules and orders of the Tax 
Court. 
Any such subpoena shall be issued and served, and 
compliance therewith shall be compelled, as provided 
in the rules and orders of the Tax Court. 
‘‘(3) DEPOSITIONS.—Pursuant to rules and or-
ders of the Court, the deposition of a witness may 
be taken before any designated individual competent 
to administer oaths under this title. Any deposition 
testimony shall be reduced to writing by the indi-
vidual taking the deposition, or under such individ-
ual’s direction, and shall be subscribed by the depo-
nent.’’. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF SPECIAL TRIAL JUDGES TO 
HEAR ADDITIONAL CASES AND ADDRESS 
CONTEMPT. 
(a) CONSENT TO ASSIGNMENT.—Section 7443A(b) is 
amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (6), 
by redesignating paragraph (7) as paragraph (8), and by 
inserting after paragraph (6) the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(7) upon the consent of the parties, and pur-
suant to rules promulgated by the Tax Court, any 
proceeding not described in paragraphs (1) through 
(6), and’’, and 
(b) AUTHORIZING SPECIAL TRIAL JUDGE.—Section 
7443A(c) is amended by striking ‘‘or (6)’’ and inserting 
‘‘(6), or (7)’’. 
(c) CONTEMPT
AUTHORITY.—Section 7443A is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(f) INCIDENTAL POWERS.—A special trial judge ap-
pointed under this section shall have the power to punish 
for contempt of the authority of the Tax Court as provided 
in section 7456(c), except the sentence imposed by such 
a special trial judge for any contempt shall not exceed the
penalties for a Class C misdemeanor as set forth in sec-
tions 3571(b)(6) and 3581(b)(8) of title 18, United States 
Code. This subsection shall not be construed to limit the 
authority of a special trial judge to order sanctions under 
any other statute or any rule of the Tax Court prescribed 
pursuant to section 7453.’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date the 
United States Tax Court adopts rules implementing the 
consent procedures of section 7443A. 
SEC. 4. DISQUALIFICATION OF JUDGES AND SPECIAL 
TRIAL JUDGES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of subchapter C of chap-
ter 76 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section: 
‘‘SEC. 7467. DISQUALIFICATION OF JUDGE OR SPECIAL 
TRIAL JUDGE. 
‘‘Section 455 of title 28, United States Code, shall 
apply to judges, special trial judges, and proceedings of 
the Tax Court.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for such part is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new item:
‘‘Sec. 7467. Disqualification of judge or special trial judge.’’.
SEC. 5. CLARIFICATION OF TAX COURT JURISDICTION TO 
APPLY EQUITABLE TOLLING IN DEFICIENCY 
CASES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 7451(b) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(b) TOLLING OF TIME.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Tax Court shall have 
jurisdiction to toll the period for filing a petition 
under section 6213(a) in cases in which the Tax 
Court determines based on the facts and cir-
cumstances that equity warrants such tolling. 
‘‘(2) RULES FOR INACCESSIBLE FILING LOCA-
TIONS.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this title, in any case (includ-
ing by reason of a lapse in appropriations) in 
which a filing location is inaccessible or other-
wise unavailable to the general public on the 
date a petition is due, the relevant time period 
for filing such petition shall be tolled for the 
number of days within the period of inacces-
sibility plus an additional 14 days. 
‘‘(B) FILING LOCATION.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, the term ‘filing location’ 
means—
‘‘(i) the office of the clerk of the Tax 
Court, or 
‘‘(ii) any on-line portal made available 
by the Tax Court for electronic filing of 
petitions.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 7459(d) is 
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘If a petition’’ and inserting the 
following: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If a petition’’, and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 
apply with respect to any dismissal which is solely 
based on a determination of the Tax Court not to 
toll the period for filing a petition under section 
6213(a).’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to filings made after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(d) NO INFERENCE.—The amendment made by sub-
sections (a) shall not be construed to create any inference 
with respect to the jurisdiction of the Tax Court with re-