Committee advances two bipartisan bills to extend tax deadlines for disaster victims
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Summary
The House Ways and Means Committee reported two bipartisan measures — HR 14 91 and HR 5 17 — that extend filing/payment deadlines and align refund look‑back periods for taxpayers affected by natural disasters. Both bills passed the committee by recorded votes and were sent to the House.
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced two bipartisan bills that would give taxpayers hit by natural disasters additional time to file returns, pay taxes and claim refunds.
The measures — HR 14 91, the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act, and HR 5 17, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act — were adopted as amended in committee and ordered favorably reported to the House. The committee recorded roll‑call tallies: HR 14 91 was reported to the House 44‑0 and HR 5 17 was reported to the House 42‑0.
Committee members said the bills are intended to reduce paperwork burdens for victims whose homes or records were damaged or destroyed. "I'm proud to introduce HR 14 91, the disaster related extension of Deadlines Act, along with my good friend, colleague, and Congressman Jimmy Panetta," Representative Greg Murphy said during the markup.
Why it matters: Federal disaster declarations already permit the Treasury to postpone filing and payment dates, but committee members and sponsors said two problems remain: (1) a taxpayer who files but waits to pay after an IRS deadline extension can still receive collection notices; and (2) the statutory three‑year look‑back period to claim refunds does not automatically extend when the filing deadline is postponed, causing some victims to lose refunds they otherwise could claim.
What the bills do: The version of HR 14 91 considered by the committee makes those changes for federally declared disasters — treating a secretary‑granted filing extension as an extension of time to file a claim for refund or credit and clarifying that notices of assessment and payment dates are extended by reason of a disaster‑related extension. Tom Barthold, chief of staff for the Joint Committee on Taxation, summarized the technical change: "The proposal before you provides that any extension for the filing period that is granted by the secretary is also treated as an extension of time for filing a claim for refund or credit." (JCX documents described the implementation and estimated negligible budgetary effects.)
HR 5 17 would allow the Treasury, in consultation with FEMA, to extend filing deadlines when a governor declares a state disaster (not waiting for a presidential disaster declaration) and would lengthen the mandatory suspension period following a presidential disaster from 60 days to 120 days. Representative David Kustoff, sponsor of HR 5 17, said the bill "authorizes the secretary of treasury in consultation with FEMA to extend filing relief to taxpayers as soon as the governor of the state declares a disaster or a state of emergency." Representative Judy Chu, who cosponsored HR 5 17, said the change matters because federal declarations can take days or weeks and taxpayers “run the risk of missing their federal filing deadlines through no fault of their own.”
Committee process and next steps: Chair and committee staff offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute for each bill; the Joint Committee on Taxation provided technical descriptions (JCX staff documents) during the markups. For both measures the committee adopted the chairman’s amendment in the nature of a substitute, then voted to report the bills to the House. Committee minutes note staff may make technical and conforming changes and members have two additional days to file supplemental views.
Discussion highlights and concerns: Members on both sides described the bills as "common sense" and bipartisan relief for disaster victims, while several members used the markup to press unrelated concerns about IRS staffing levels and recent mass firings. Committee testimony and member statements repeatedly returned to the need for adequate IRS and FEMA staffing to implement disaster relief quickly.
What’s next: Both bills were ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives, where they will be placed on the House calendar for further consideration. Committee staff and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated minimal budgetary effects for the disaster‑deadline changes.
