HR 9496 United States House · 119th Congress

End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act

The End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act modifies the Internal Revenue Code to protect United States nationals who are wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad from tax penalties and interest. It achieves this by disregarding the time spent in captivity when calculating tax deadlines, interest accruals, and penalty amounts, while also requiring the Treasury Department to update its systems to suspend collection activities for these individuals. Additionally, the bill establishes a program to refund or abate any taxes, penalties, or interest that eligible individuals paid during the period from January 1, 2021, to the date of the law's enactment. To implement these changes, the Secretary of State and the Attorney General must provide lists of affected individuals to the Treasury by January 1, 2027, and notify them of their eligibility for refunds.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jun 2026
Committee Review
Sep 2026
House Passage
Sep 2026
Senate Passage
President
Introduced Jun 29, 2026 Last action Sep 16, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced in House → Engrossed in House · 2 edits · Sep 15, 2026
MINOR
The changes between the introduced and engrossed versions of HR 9496 are almost entirely formatting, consisting of added blank lines throughout the text for readability. The only substantive edit is a minor technical correction in section 3(b), changing 'this subsection' to 'this section' in the effective date provision.
TECHNICAL

In section 3(b) (effective date), the phrase 'The amendment made by this subsection' was corrected to 'The amendment made by this section,' fixing a cross-reference error.

Blank lines were added throughout the bill text between sections, subsections, and paragraphs for improved readability in the engrossed version. No policy content was changed.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
3
Committee
4
Amendments
2
Sep 16, 2026
Committee
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
upper
Sep 15, 2026
Introduced
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H5683-5684)
lower
Sep 15, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
lower
Sep 15, 2026
Introduced
Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
lower
Sep 8, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-797.
lower
Jul 1, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
lower
Jun 29, 2026
Committee
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
lower
Jun 29, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors