Only the right has signed this so far (Bill Ranking)
H.R. 9499 · 119th Congress (2025-2026)
1 member · Left 0 · Center 0 · Right 1 (Bill Ranking)
| Sponsor | Rep. Malliotakis, Nicole (R-NY) (Introduced 06/29/2026) |
|---|---|
| Sponsor Voting Record | Lean right · DW-NOMINATE +0.33 · measured from every roll-call vote this member has cast (voteview.com) (Sponsor Ranking) |
| Support |
LLLCLRR support across the spectrum: 1 member signed on (Bill Ranking) this bill: sponsor + current cosponsors, each once |
| Committees | House - Ways and Means Committee; House - Ways and Means Committee |
| Latest Action | 07/01/2026 Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 40 - 0. |
| Roll Call Votes | There have been no roll call votes |
| Source | view on congress.gov → |
Introduced in House (06/29/2026)
Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act
This 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.)
119 HR 9499 IH: Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act U.S. House of Representatives 2026-06-29 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I119th CONGRESS2d SessionH. R. 9499IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJune 29, 2026Ms. Malliotakis introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and MeansA BILLTo amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply tax return preparation penalties to improperly altered returns, and for other purposes.
1.Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act.
2.Penalties for tax return preparers who improperly alter returns (a)In generalParagraph (1) of section 6696(e) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: (1)ReturnThe term return means— (A)any return of any tax imposed by this title, (B)any administrative adjustment request under section 6227, (C)any partnership adjustment tracking report under section 6226(b)(4)(A), and (D)any other document purporting to be a return, request, or report described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).. (b)Effective dateThe amendment made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
3.Limitation period not extended for victims of preparer fraud (a)In generalSection 6501(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting by the taxpayer after intent. (b)Effective dateThe amendment made by this section shall apply to assessments made or proceedings begun after the date of the enactment of this Act.
4.Technical amendment related to the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act (a)In generalSubsection (f) of section 7508A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act) is redesignated as subsection (g). (b)Effective dateThe amendment made by this subsection shall take effect as if included in section 2(a) of the Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act.
The bill's own words, from our database (synced from the GPO BILLS XML); paragraph breaks added at the bill's section boundaries, nothing else changed.
| Date | Chamber | All Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 06/29/2026 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 06/29/2026 | Library of Congress | Introduced in House |
| 06/29/2026 | House floor actions | Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. |
| 07/01/2026 | House committee actions | Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held |
| 07/01/2026 | House committee actions | Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 40 - 0. |
| Title Type | Title |
|---|---|
| Display Title | Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act |
| Short Title(s) as Introduced | Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act |
| Official Title as Introduced | To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply tax return preparation penalties to improperly altered returns, and for other purposes. |
There are no amendments to this bill.
There are no cosponsors of this bill.
| Committee | Activity |
|---|---|
| House - Ways and Means Committee | 07/01/2026 Markup By |
| House - Ways and Means Committee | 06/29/2026 Referred To |
No related bill information was received for H.R. 9499.
Policy Area: Taxation
No legislative subjects have been assigned yet.
All data on this page comes from our own database (legislation.congress_* tables), synced daily from the GPO govinfo BILLSTATUS and BILLS collections. Formatted after congress.gov; nothing is generated. Member placement is their DW-NOMINATE score (voteview.com, Lewis et al.) - a measurement of roll-call voting behavior, not our judgement. Buckets: Left below −0.50 · Lean Left to −0.25 · Center to +0.25 · Lean Right to +0.50 · Right above +0.50. The bill's Support meter aggregates the people who signed the bill - sponsor and current cosponsors, each counted once - nothing else.