Senate Sends Disaster Tax Relief Bill to President While New Tax Bills Advance

Lawmakers cleared a disaster tax relief bill for enactment on December 11 while advancing three other tax administration bills through the House Ways and Means Committee. Legislation providing administrative relief to taxpayers has been a source of rare bipartisan success this year and further action is possible in 2026.

The Senate voted unanimously on December 11 to send H.R 1491 to the president. The Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act is expected to be signed into law and will provide that the period for which tax return filing deadlines are postponed under existing disaster relief in Section 7508A will be treated as an extension of the statute of limitations for filing a refund claim under Section 6511(b)(2)(A). The legislation also clarifies that the last day prescribed for payment after an assessment under Section 6303 includes any period of time subject to relief under Section 7508A.

The legislation is the third tax administration bill to reach the president’s desk by unanimous consent in the Senate this year, following: 

• H.R. 517: The Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act increases the mandatory filing and payment relief period for natural disasters under Section 7508A from 60 days to 120 days and gives the IRS authority to postpone deadlines for state-declared natural disasters.
• H.R. 998: The Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act imposes new restrictions on the IRS’s ability to use math error authority to make adjustments without using the regular deficiency procedures (see our full write-up for more information).
  
  

Five remaining House-passed tax administration bills could similarly be taken up by the Senate during this Congress:

• H.R. 5346: The Fair and Accountable IRS Review Act would require IRS examiners to obtain written approval from “the person to whom such individual reports” before “any written communication with respect to such penalty (including proposal of a penalty as an adjustment) is sent to the taxpayer.”
• H.R. 5349: The Tax Court Improvement Act would make a number of changes to Tax Court procedures, including expanding subpoena authority and clarifying that the Tax Court has jurisdiction over equitable tolling questions.
• H.R. 1152: The Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act would extend the “mailbox” rule to electronic filings so that timeliness would be determined based on when an electronic payment or form was sent rather than received. 
• H.R. 1155: The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act would allow the IRS to issue replacement checks for lost tax refund payments as electronic payments. 
• H.R. 997: The National Taxpayer Advocate Enhancement Act of 2025 would give the National Taxpayer Advocate Service authority to hire direct counsel.
  
  

The House Ways and Means Committee approved three additional bills last week:

• H.R. 6506: The Taxpayer Due Process Enhancement Act would reverse the recent Supreme Court decision in Commissioner v. Zuch to bar the IRS from diverting refunds during collection due process proceedings while also suspending the statute of limitations for refund claims.
• H.R. 6495: The Taxpayer Notification and Privacy Act would require the IRS to notify taxpayers when seeking information from third parties.
• H.R. 4242: The Innovate Less Lethal to De-Escalate Tax Modernization Act would exempt certain “less-than-lethal projectile devices” from firearms excise taxes.
  
  

H.R. 6506 and H.R. 6495 both were passed out of committee with unanimous support and could be considered by the full House and Senate at some point. H.R. 4242 passed out of committee in a party-line vote and could face more difficultly advancing.

Senate tax writers are also still interested in a more sweeping tax administrative reform package. Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have released a discussion draft and summary of the Taxpayer Assistance and Service Act.