This is not an official government website.
© 2026 PLEJ LC. All rights reserved.
Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act, members such as Jason Smith.
Issued
September 15, 2026
house side of the record
People
3
Linked members mentioned in this section
Legislation
1
Bills and resolutions linked from this section
Committees
0
No linked committees in this section
Senate Holds
0
No hold activity linked here
Source Document
Connected Data
People mentioned
Bills and resolutions
Source Control
Reader mode is for comprehension. The linked government PDF is the official published source.
Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 9499) to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to apply tax return preparation penalties to improperly altered returns, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 9499
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Protecting Taxpayers from
Ghost Preparers Act”.
SEC. 2. LIMITATION PERIOD NOT EXTENDED FOR VICTIMS OF
PREPARER FRAUD.
(a) In General.—Section 6501(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 is amended by inserting “by the taxpayer”
after “intent”.
(b) Effective Date.—The amendment made by this section
shall apply to assessments made or proceedings begun after
the date of the enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT RELATED TO THE DISASTER RELATED
EXTENSION OF DEADLINES ACT.
(a) In General.—Subsection (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 Date.—The amendment made by this section
shall take effect as if included in section 2(a) of the
Disaster Related Extension of Deadlines Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Chu) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.
General Leave
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Missouri?
There was no objection.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9499, the Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act, introduced by Representative Malliotakis.
fraud, including exploiting the system by filing returns on behalf of individuals while making it appear that the taxpayers prepared and submitted those returns themselves.
taxpayer facing the blame and potential IRS penalties for a crime that they did not commit. This legislation provides much-needed clarity within our tax code and ensures Americans do not face an indefinite future of IRS assessments or penalties because of the misdeeds of others. It reflects the longstanding commitment of Representative Malliotakis to protecting the rights of taxpayers, particularly those within her own district who have been the victims of tax fraud.
Mr. Speaker, I applaud her leadership on the issue and her work to put forward legislation that received unanimous approval from the House Ways and Means Committee.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 9499, the Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act.
I thank my colleague, Ms. Malliotakis, for her leadership on this bill. This bill helps victims of tax fraud by ensuring that the IRS is penalizing the bad actor and not the taxpayer.
fraud without the knowledge of the taxpayer. The taxpayer may not find out about a false or fraudulent return until years after it was filed, when the IRS audits the return.
years after a return is filed. This is commonly referred to as a 3-year statute of limitations. However, when a return involves fraud with an intent to evade tax, the IRS has an indefinite amount of time to audit the return. In other words, there is no statute of limitations.
a taxpayer or when it is committed by a third party, such as the taxpayer's return preparer who files a false or fraudulent return with the intent to evade tax.
The bill would fix this trap for unwitting taxpayers. The bill provides that misconduct solely by a third party, such as the taxpayer's return preparer, can no longer indefinitely suspend the statute of limitations for a taxpayer.
to IRS enforcement actions when a false or fraudulent return was filed by the return preparer without the taxpayer's knowledge.
Mr. Speaker, this bill is a step in the right direction for protecting taxpayers from fraudulent preparers.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Malliotakis).
Ms. MALLIOTAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my legislation, H.R. 9499, the Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act.
navigating our complicated tax code. They should be able to trust that the person they are paying to prepare their return is acting honestly and following the law.
preparers—take advantage of that trust. They alter returns, claim fraudulent deductions or credits, inflate refunds, and sometimes even take a percentage of the refund themselves. Then, they disappear and leave the taxpayer to deal with the IRS and the consequences. That is simply wrong.
We have seen serious cases across the country. In Kentucky, two individuals pleaded guilty after preparing nearly 6,000 fraudulent Federal tax returns, resulting in more than $10 million in tax losses.
guilty to nearly $12 million in a fraud scheme after preparing fraudulent returns and collecting more than $1 million in fees from his clients.
orchestrating a decade-long tax fraud scheme involving tens of thousands of false returns.
tax after a return is filed. When a return is fraudulent, that limitation can remain open indefinitely.
unlimited period because of fraud committed by the preparer—even when the evidence is clear that the taxpayer had no intention whatsoever of evading taxes.
My bill fixes that. H.R. 9499 makes clear that the unlimited statute of limitations for a fraudulent return applies when the taxpayer intended to evade taxes, not when a dishonest preparer acted alone without the taxpayer's knowledge. That is basic fairness.
consequences, and dishonest preparers who commit fraud should face the consequences, as well.
on policies to ensure that fraudulent preparers and other bad actors are held accountable for taking advantage of hardworking taxpayers.
Mr. Speaker, this is commonsense legislation, and it is a taxpayer protection measure. I thank Chairman Smith and the committee staff for their work to advance this legislation, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support it.
Ms. CHU. Mr. Speaker, taxpayers who follow the rules should not be liable for the actions of those who do not. This bill will ensure that the innocent taxpayers are not on the hook for the wrongdoings of bad actors.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote “yes” on the bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 2100
Mr. SMITH of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
criminals who break our tax laws. We have to make sure the agency's actions target the criminal and not the victim.
current IRS fraud prevention efforts, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support its passage.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Smith) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 9499, as amended.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.