# 119-hr-1868: Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act of 2025

119-hr-1868, Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2] (R-AR); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-20).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1868
- As of: 2026-10-20
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-1868
- Congress: 119
- Title: Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-05
- Sponsor: Rep. Hill, J. French [R-AR-2] (R-AR)
- Cosponsors: 14
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-20

## Summary

**Postpones tax deadlines and refunds penalties for U.S. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad.** It would create a new tax-code rule that treats unlawful detention or hostage status as a tolling event for certain tax deadlines and penalties. - Would pause the timing for tax acts that trigger interest, penalties, or additions to tax by disregarding the period of unlawful or wrongful detention when calculating deadlines. It applies to U.S. nationals identified under the Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act or by findings of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell. - Creates a refund and abatement program for penalties, interest, and additions to tax paid during the applicable period of Jan. 1, 2021 to the date of enactment. Eligible individuals include the affected person and their spouse or dependents and refunds are treated as overpayments under section 6402 with an extended claim window. - Directs the Secretary of State and the Attorney General (through the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell) to provide lists of applicable individuals by Jan. 1, 2026 and annually. It also requires the Treasury Secretary to update tax databases, notify identified people, and implement the refund program.

## Cosponsors (14)

- Rep. Titus, Dina [D-NV-1] (D-NV), 2025-03-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tenney, Claudia [R-NY-24] (R-NY), 2025-03-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8] (D-VA), 2025-03-05T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Nadler, Jerrold [D-NY-12] (D-NY), 2025-03-31T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. LaLota, Nick [R-NY-1] (R-NY), 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Suozzi, Thomas R. [D-NY-3] (D-NY), 2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA), 2025-04-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Haridopolos, Mike [R-FL-8] (R-FL), 2025-04-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Williams, Nikema [D-GA-5] (D-GA), 2025-05-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Conaway, Herbert C. [D-NJ-3] (D-NJ), 2025-05-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gottheimer, Josh [D-NJ-5] (D-NJ), 2025-09-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dunn, Neal P. [R-FL-2] (R-FL), 2026-01-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hamadeh, Abraham J. [R-AZ-8] (R-AZ), 2026-01-13T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Pause IRS deadlines during hostage detention: benefit, high. If enacted, time you were unlawfully detained or held hostage abroad would not count toward IRS deadlines. Interest and penalties would not run for that time, and credits or refunds would be figured without counting it. Your spouse would also get this relief. The start date would be the date the go…
- Refund tax penalties for hostages and detainees: benefit, high. If enacted, Treasury would cancel and refund interest and penalties you paid that were tied to missed tax acts while you were unlawfully detained or held hostage abroad. You, your spouse, or your dependent could apply. The refund program must start by January 1, 2026. The window for these refunds w…
- Who qualifies for hostage tax relief: benefit, medium. If enacted, you would qualify only if the U.S. finds you were unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad, or taken hostage abroad. These findings come from the Levinson Act process or the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell. This definition decides who can get the deadline pause and penalty refunds.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act
- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025
- 119-hr-979: AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025
- 119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-1868 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1868)

## Related
- [119-hr-2102: Major Richard Star Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2102)
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-1422: Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1422)
- [119-hr-979: AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-979)
- [119-hr-909: Crime Victims Fund Stabilization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-909)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1868 (as of 2026-10-20).