# H.R. 517 (119th): Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act This act authorizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to postpone federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a qualified state declared disaster, upon written request by the state governor

Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act This act authorizes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to postpone federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a qualified state declared disaster, upon written request by the state governor. The act also increases the automatic extension of federal tax deadlines for certain taxpayers. Under current law, the IRS may postpone federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a federally declared disaster, including (but not limited to) deadlines for (1) filing federal tax returns, (2) paying federal taxes, (3) making retirement plan contributions, and (4) tax assessments and collections. The act authorizes the IRS to postpone such federal tax deadlines for taxpayers affected by a qualified state declared disaster upon written request by the state’s governor (or the District of Columbia mayor). Under the act, a state includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The act defines qualified state declared disaster as any natural catastrophe, fire, flood, or explosion that causes damage of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant a request to postpone such federal tax deadlines. Further, under current law, an automatic extension of such federal tax deadlines applies to certain relief workers, individuals killed or injured as a result of a federally declared disaster, and taxpayers whose principal residence, business, or tax records are located in a federally declared disaster area. The act increases the automatic extension of federal tax deadlines for these taxpayers to 120 days (from 60 days).

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: disaster_relief. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: tax_administration. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: tax_deadlines. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 84: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The summary gives enough information for a high-level judgment. The bill is an ordinary administrative relief measure that extends deadlines for disaster-affected people, a prudent good. It does not directly restrain a named evil or defend a specific justice principle, and no real moral concern is evident in the text, so it is classed as prudential rather than good or evil.
Theological note: The measure concerns mercy and reasonable accommodation toward neighbors suffering from calamity, which Scripture commends, and the civil duty of government to act with equity toward those harmed. It does not address a named moral evil, and its relevance is mainly prudential, concerning how public authority administers relief without burdening victims further.

## Recorded votes

Roll 84: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended. Yea 388 · Nay 0 · Other 42.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-517-119/