# 119-s-655: Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act of 2025

119-s-655, Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (D-DE); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-30).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-655
- As of: 2026-09-30
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-655
- Congress: 119
- Title: Stop Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-20
- Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE] (D-DE)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Taxation
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-30

## Summary

**Pauses tax deadlines and refunds penalties for U.S. nationals unlawfully detained or held hostage abroad.** This bill would add a new Section 7511 that ignores the period of detention when calculating tax deadlines, interest, penalties, credits, and refunds and creates a program to abate and refund amounts tied to those delays. - U.S. nationals and their families: Individuals unlawfully or wrongfully detained abroad and those taken hostage would have the detention period disregarded for tax filing and payment deadlines. Spouses and dependents are covered the same way. - People who already paid fees and penalties: The bill would create a refundable abatement program for interest and penalties paid for taxable years in the applicable period, defined as January 1, 2021 through the enactment date, and would extend claim timelines for those refunds. - Administration and process: The Department of State and the Attorney General would provide Treasury with lists to identify eligible people each year. Treasury must update its databases, notify identified people within 90 days of identification, and issue refunds using existing overpayment procedures by January 1, 2026.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Sen. Rounds, Mike [R-SD] (R-SD), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] (R-LA), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Scott, Rick [R-FL] (R-FL), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. McCormick, David [R-PA] (R-PA), 2025-02-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Tax relief for U.S. hostages: benefit, medium. If enacted, the time a U.S. national was unlawfully detained or held hostage abroad would not count toward federal tax deadlines. This would pause interest, penalties, and additions to tax for that detention period, and the same pause would apply to the spouse. The bill would also create a Treasury…

## Related bills

- 119-s-339: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.
- 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.
- 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.
- 119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former Senator for the State of Michigan.
- 119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for the State of California.

## Sources
- [119-s-655 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/655)

## Related
- [119-s-339: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-339)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897)
- [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801)
- [119-sres-755: A resolution honoring the life of the Honorable Donald W. Riegle, Jr., former S…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-755)
- [119-sres-739: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of John Seymour, the late Senator for…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-739)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-655 (as of 2026-09-30).