HR 7959 119th Congress
IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement Act
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make improvements with respect to the treatment of whistleblowers, and for other purposes.
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Bill journey
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Introduction Congress.gov
Introduced
Introduced in the House.
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Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
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Introduced in House
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Introduced in House
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Introduced in House
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Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 41 - 0.
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Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
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Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 526.
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Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-606.
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Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-606.
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Reported in House
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Engrossed in House
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Open text recordOfficial action Congress.gov · 3:32 pm UTC
Mr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
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Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3104-3106)
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov · 3:32 pm UTC
DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 7959.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov · 3:45 pm UTC
At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov · 6:30 pm UTC
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H3117-3118)
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov · 7:01 pm UTC
On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 346 - 10 (Roll no. 138). (text: CR H3104)
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Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 346 - 10 (Roll no. 138). (text: CR H3104)
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov · 7:01 pm UTC
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
Open bill recordHouse roll call Congress.gov · 11:00 pm UTC
House roll 138
On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended
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Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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Referred in Senate
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View the complete bill journey as an accessible table
| Date and time | Record | Official detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| IntroductionIntroduced | Introduced in the House. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · House floor actions · Code H11100 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionIntroduced in House | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Library of Congress · Code Intro-H | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionIntroduced in House | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Library of Congress · Code 1000 | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionIntroduced in House | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionOrdered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 41 - 0. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · House committee actions · Code H19000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionCommittee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held | No additional detail supplied.Committee · House committee actions · Code H15001 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionPlaced on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 526. | No additional detail supplied.Calendars · House floor actions · Code H12410 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionReported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-606. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · House floor actions · Code H12200 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionReported (Amended) by the Committee on Ways and Means. H. Rept. 119-606. | No additional detail supplied.Committee · Library of Congress · Code 5000 | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionReported in House | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionEngrossed in House | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionMr. Smith (MO) moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H30300 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionConsidered under suspension of the rules. (consideration: CR H3104-3106) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H30000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionDEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 7959. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H8D000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionAt the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H37220 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionConsidered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H3117-3118) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H30000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionOn motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 346 - 10 (Roll no. 138). (text: CR H3104) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H37300 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionPassed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 346 - 10 (Roll no. 138). (text: CR H3104) | No additional detail supplied.Floor · Library of Congress · Code 8000 | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionMotion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection. | No additional detail supplied.Floor · House floor actions · Code H38310 | Congress.gov | |
| House roll callHouse roll 138 | On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedPassed | Congress.gov | |
| Official actionReceived in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. | No additional detail supplied.IntroReferral · Senate | Congress.gov | |
| Text versionReferred in Senate | A dated text-version record is available. | Congress.gov |
House roll calls join only on matching Congress, legislation type, and number. Senate roll calls join only on matching source-supplied document type and number, not question text. Committee and related-measure relationships have no date in their relationship records and therefore are counted above but never placed on the chronology.
Congressional Research Service
CRS summary
IRS Whistleblower Program Improvement ActThis bill modifies provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to whistleblower awards and protections.Specifically, the billrevises the standard for review of whistleblower awards in the Tax Court to require a de novo review (rather than the current abuse of discretion review) based on the administrative record established at the time of the whistleblower award determination and any new or previously unavailable evidence,allows whistleblowers anonymity in proceedings before the Tax Court (unless a societal interest in disclosing a whistleblower's identity outweighs potential harm to the whistleblower),modifies the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower report to require inclusion of a list and description of up to 10 of the top tax avoidance schemes disclosed by whistleblowers, andrequires payment of interest on mandatory whistleblower awards if the IRS fails to provide timely notice to a whistleblower of an award recommendation.The bill also allows payments of the attorney fees of whistleblowers to be deducted when calculating adjusted gross income for tax purposes regardless of whether the whistleblower award was paid through the mandatory or the discretionary whistleblower award program. (Under current law, the deduction is limited to attorney fees paid in connection with mandatory awards.)
Official documents
Text versions
- Referred in SenateApr 28, 2026
- Engrossed in HouseApr 27, 2026
- Reported in HouseApr 9, 2026
- Introduced in HouseMar 17, 2026