HR 9499 119th Congress
Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply tax return preparation penalties to improperly altered returns, and for other purposes.
Official Title as Introduced Congress.gov
Open official Congress.gov recordSource-linked procedural record
Bill journey
This is a chronology, not a progress score. Politically.com does not classify stages or infer what comes next. Records sharing a date are grouped because not every source field supplies a time.
Congress.gov Recently refreshed
U.S. Senate XML Recently refreshed
-
Introduction Congress.gov
Introduced
Introduced in the House.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Introduced in House
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Introduced in House
Open bill recordText version Congress.gov
Introduced in House
A dated text-version record is available.
Open text record -
Official action Congress.gov
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 40 - 0.
Open bill recordOfficial action Congress.gov
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
Open bill record -
Text version Congress.gov
Reported in House
A dated text-version record is available.
Open text record
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: 40 - 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 | |
| Text versionReported in House | 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
Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers ActThis bill limits the amount of time the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has to assess taxes related to fraudulent or false federal tax returns where there is no intent by the taxpayer to evade taxes. The bill also expands the types of documents for which various penalties may be imposed against tax return preparers.As background, the IRS generally has three years from the date that a tax return is filed (statute of limitations) to assess taxes owed by the taxpayer for the tax year. However, if a false or fraudulent tax return is filed with the intent to evade tax (fraud exception), then the IRS may assess taxes at any time. In Murrin v. Commissioner the U.S. Tax Court held (and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed) that the fraud exception applies when a tax return preparer places false or fraudulent entries on a tax return without the taxpayer’s knowledge. In contrast, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims held in BASR Partnership v. Commissioner that the fraud exception only applies if the taxpayer intends to evade taxes.The bill limits the fraud exception to cases in which the taxpayer intends to evade taxes.Further, under the bill, tax return preparers may be subject to penalties related to false or fraudulent documents purporting to be federal tax returns, partnership administrative adjustment requests, or partnership adjustment tracking reports. (Currently, the penalties apply if the documents are valid submissions to the IRS.)
Official documents
Text versions
- Reported in HouseSep 8, 2026
- Introduced in HouseJun 29, 2026