Tax Court Improvement Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5349 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

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.
                                 <all>