[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5349 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5349
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to improve services provided
to taxpayers by the Internal Revenue Service by providing greater
judicial review.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 15, 2025
Mr. Moran (for himself and Ms. Sewell) 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 improve services provided
to taxpayers by the Internal Revenue Service by providing greater
judicial review.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
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 otherwise expressly
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment 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
Revenue Code of 1986.
(c) References to Secretary.--For purposes of this Act, the term
``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary's
delegate.
(d) 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 address contempt.
Sec. 4. Disqualification of judges and special trial judges.
Sec. 5. Clarification of Tax Court jurisdiction to apply equitable
tolling in deficiency cases.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF SUBPOENAS BEFORE HEARINGS TO FACILITATE
SETTLEMENTS.
Section 7456(a) is amended to read as follows:
``(a) In General.--
``(1) Administration of oaths.--For the efficient
administration of the functions vested in the Tax Court or any
division thereof, any judge or special trial judge, the clerk
or the clerk's deputies, as such, or any other employee of the
Tax Court designated 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 require, 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 witnesses.
``(B) The production of books, papers, documents,
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 orders 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 individual taking the deposition, or under such
individual's direction, and shall be subscribed by the
deponent.''.
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 pursuant 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 subsection:
``(f) Incidental Powers.--A special trial judge appointed 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
sections 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 amendment 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 chapter 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 following 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
circumstances that equity warrants such tolling.
``(2) Rules for inaccessible filing locations.--
``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other
provision of this title, in any case (including by
reason of a lapse in appropriations) in which a filing
location is inaccessible or otherwise 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
inaccessibility 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 subsection shall
apply to filings made after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) No Inference.--The amendment made by subsections (a) shall not
be construed to create any inference with respect to the jurisdiction
of the Tax Court with respect to any petition filed on or before the
date of the enactment of this Act.
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