Official Summaries

Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act

This bill provides that a federal tax document or payment that is electronically submitted to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) shall be considered delivered to the IRS on the date such document or payment is sent. Further, the bill requires the IRS to issue guidance on electronically submitted federal tax documents and payments no later than December 31, 2025.

Under current law, a federal tax document or payment that is sent by mail is considered delivered to the IRS on the date that such document or payment is postmarked and is considered timely if the postmark date is on or before the due date of such document or payment. (This is known as the mailbox rule.)

Further, under current law, the IRS is authorized to provide guidance on electronically submitted federal tax documents but not payments. In accordance with such authority, IRS guidance provides that the date that an authorized electronic return transmitter receives the transmission of an electronically filed document on its host system is the electronic postmark date.

The bill expands the mailbox rule to include all electronically submitted federal tax documents and payments and specifically requires the IRS to provide guidance on electronically submitted payments.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1152 Referred in Senate (RFS)]

<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1152


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

               April 1 (legislative day, March 31), 2025

     Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT


 
     To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the 
       application of the mailbox rule to documents and payments 
       electronically submitted to the Internal Revenue Service.

    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 ``Electronic Filing and Payment 
Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF MAILBOX RULE TO DOCUMENTS AND PAYMENTS 
              ELECTRONICALLY SUBMITTED TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.

    (a) In General.--Section 7502(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended--
            (1) in the heading, by inserting ``and Payment'' after 
        ``Filing'',
            (2) in paragraph (2)--
                    (A) in the heading, by striking ``; electronic 
                filing'', and
                    (B) by striking ``and electronic filing'', and
            (3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) Electronic filing and payment.--
                    ``(A) In general.--If any return, claim, statement, 
                or other document required to be filed, or any payment 
                required to be made, within a prescribed period or on 
                or before a prescribed date under authority of any 
                provision of the internal revenue laws is sent 
                electronically by any person to the agency, officer, or 
                office with which such return, claim, statement, or 
                other document is required to be filed, or to which 
                such payment is required to be made, the date on which 
                such return, claim, statement, or other document, or 
                payment, is sent electronically by such person shall be 
                deemed to be the date of delivery or the date of 
                payment, as the case may be, regardless of the date on 
                which the applicable agency, officer, or office 
                receives or reviews such return, claim, statement, 
                document, or payment.
                    ``(B) Regulations.--Not later than December 31, 
                2025, the Secretary shall issue such regulations or 
                other guidance as the Secretary determines necessary to 
                carry out the purposes of this paragraph.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to any document or payment sent after December 31, 2025.

            Passed the House of Representatives March 31, 2025.

            Attest:

                                             KEVIN F. MCCUMBER,

                                                                 Clerk.