§2714a Revocation or denial of passport in case of certain unpaid taxes

Summary

When the Secretary of the Treasury sends a certification under section 7345 of title 26 saying someone has a "seriously delinquent tax debt," the Secretary of State must not give that person a passport. In emergencies or for humanitarian reasons, the Secretary of State can still issue a passport. The Secretary of State can also cancel a passport already issued to such a person, or instead limit the passport so it only lets the person travel back to the United States. The Treasury, State, and their designees are not legally responsible to the person for actions taken under that certification. If a passport application leaves out the applicant’s Social Security number or gives an incorrect or invalid number because the applicant willfully, intentionally, negligently, or recklessly provided it, the Secretary of State must not issue a passport, with the same emergency or humanitarian exception. The Secretary of State may revoke or limit an existing passport in the same way. If the Treasury later notifies the State that the person no longer has the serious tax debt, the State must remove the certification from the person’s record. These rules took effect on December 4, 2015.