Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act
Click any stage to learn more about the legislative process.
The Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act requires the IRS to count a disaster-related postponement of a tax filing deadline as an extension when calculating how far back a taxpayer can claim a refund, and applies the same postponement to the deadline for sending tax collection notices.
The change fixes a technical gap where taxpayers in federally declared disaster areas could lose refunds for taxes withheld or paid before they filed, simply because the postponed deadline wasn't treated as an extension under the refund lookback rule.
What this law does
What it does
The law amends the Internal Revenue Code so that when the IRS postpones a federal tax return deadline because of a federally declared disaster, terrorist action, or military action, that postponement counts as an extension of the filing deadline for purposes of the three-year "lookback period" used to limit tax refund claims. Previously, such postponements were not treated as extensions, which meant taxes paid before a postponed filing date could fall outside the lookback window and become non-refundable. The law also amends the rule governing IRS notices, providing that when the IRS calculates the deadline for mailing a notice and demand for tax payment (normally within 60 days of an assessment, and not before the payment due date), it must account for any disaster-related postponement of that payment deadline. The refund provision applies to claims filed after enactment, and the notice provision applies to notices issued after enactment.
Key provisions
- 1Amends the tax code so that a disaster-related postponement of a filing deadline is treated as an extension for purposes of the three-year lookback period limiting tax refund claims.
- 2Applies this lookback-period fix to refund claims filed after the date of enactment.
- 3Amends the rule for IRS collection notices so the last date prescribed for tax payment accounts for any disaster-related postponement.
- 4Applies the collection-notice fix to notices issued after the date of enactment.
Who is affected
Taxpayers living in areas covered by federally declared disasters, significant fires, or terrorist or military actions who receive IRS filing deadline postponements, as well as the Internal Revenue Service, which administers refund claims and sends collection notices under these revised timing rules.
Why it matters
Taxpayers affected by disasters who file late under an IRS postponement will no longer lose refund eligibility for taxes paid before the postponed deadline, since that period now counts toward the refund lookback window. The notice-timing fix also ensures the IRS doesn't miscalculate collection notice deadlines when a disaster has delayed a taxpayer's payment due date.
What changed
Changes to existing law
Amends 26 U.S.C. § 7508A (Sec. 2(a))
Adds subsection (f) treating a disaster-related postponement of a filing deadline as an extension for refund lookback purposes.
Amends 26 U.S.C. § 6511(b)(2)(A) (Sec. 2(a))
The refund lookback calculation under this section must now credit disaster-related postponements as extensions.
Amends 26 U.S.C. § 6303(b) (Sec. 2(b))
Restructures the provision and adds a paragraph requiring the payment due date used for notice timing to reflect disaster postponements.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- The refund lookback-period fix applies to refund claims filed after enactment
- The collection-notice timing fix applies to notices issued after enactment
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 1491 would reduce federal revenues by an insignificant amount (less than $500,000) over the 2025–2035 period, with no effect on direct spending.
The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that H.R. 1491 would reduce federal revenues by an insignificant amount over the 2025–2035 period. The bill would have no effect on direct (mandatory) spending, and therefore its impact on the deficit is also negligible — less than $500,000 in any scoring period. CBO estimates it would cost less than $500,000 over 2025–2030 to implement the bill, subject to appropriated funds. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How it works
The IRS applies these changes automatically as part of its existing refund-processing and notice-issuance systems: when calculating a taxpayer's refund lookback period, it now credits any disaster-related filing postponement as an extension, and when computing deadlines for mailing collection notices, it factors in disaster-related payment postponements. No new agency, rulemaking, or reporting structure is created; the changes take effect based on when refund claims are filed or notices issued after enactment.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Became Public Law No: 119-64.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This act requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to treat the postponement of the federal tax return deadline due to a federally declared disaster or certain other events as an extension of such deadline for purposes of calculating the limit on a tax refund. The act also provides that the IRS’s deadline for sending certain notices includes such postponement.
Under current law, a tax refund claim must be filed within three years of the date that the federal tax return is filed. (Some exceptions apply.) The tax refund amount generally is limited to federal taxes paid within the three years preceding the tax refund claim plus any extension of the federal tax return deadline (known as the lookback period). Under the law in effect prior to this act, the postponement of the federal tax return deadline is not an extension for purposes of the lookback period. Thus, under prior law, certain tax payments (e.g., amounts withheld from a paycheck for federal taxes) made before the federal tax return is filed may be outside the lookback period and non-refundable.
Under the act, a federal tax return deadline postponed due to a federally declared disaster or certain other events must be treated as an extension of such deadline for purposes of the lookback period.
Further, under current law, the IRS is required to mail a notice and demand for tax payment within 60 days of an assessment but not before the tax payment due date.
The act provides that the tax payment due date includes the postponement of the tax payment deadline due to a federally declared disaster or certain other events.
Legislative subjects
Fires; Forests, forestry, trees; Natural disasters; Tax administration and collection, taxpayers; Taxation; Terrorism
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-43