Sponsors (3)
The bill gives surviving spouses meaningful, short-term tax relief and simpler filing by extending a married-filing-jointly lookback, at the cost of modest lost federal revenue and additional IRS implementation burden.
Surviving spouses (widows and widowers) can use a 5-year lookback to file using married-filing-jointly rates, allowing them to claim lower tax brackets and reduced tax liability for up to five years after a spouse's death.
Surviving spouses and other taxpayers face less immediate filing complexity and financial hardship because the extended lookback gives families extra time to adjust tax status and finances after a death.
Federal income tax receipts will be modestly reduced during the lookback period, which could increase the deficit or require shifting or delaying other spending priorities.
The IRS will need to update forms, guidance, and processing to implement the extended lookback, creating administrative costs and an implementation burden for the agency and taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Extends the surviving-spouse lookback period for filing status from 2 tax years to 5 tax years for federal income tax purposes.
Official title: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to expand the surviving spouse filing status to individuals whose spouses have died within the last five taxable years.
Introduced September 30, 2025 by Jefferson Van Drew · Last progress September 30, 2025
Changes the federal individual income tax rule for surviving spouses by extending the lookback period used to determine "surviving spouse" filing status from two taxable years to five taxable years. The longer five-year window applies to returns for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024, allowing more widows and widowers to use the favorable surviving-spouse filing status for a longer period after a spouse's death. The Act is short (two sections): a short-title provision and the single substantive amendment to 26 U.S.C. § 2(a)(1)(A). It does not create new programs, appropriate funds, or impose state or local mandates.