The record

LegislationLegislation· Sep 2026
HR 9499 Passed House — in Senate

Sponsored by Nicole Malliotakis (R)

Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act

Limits ability to assess taxes on returns prepared fraudulently without the taxpayer's knowledge.

Tradeoff

Protects taxpayers from unlimited audits when a tax preparer commits fraud without their consent. Narrows authority to pursue back taxes in these cases to the standard three-year window.

What's in it

See official bill text

Increases federal revenues by $100 million over 10 years (2027-2036).

The $100 million increase comes from allowing the to assess back taxes indefinitely (rather than under normal time limits) when a taxpayer intentionally evades taxes, enabling recovery of unpaid taxes on fraudulent returns.

H.R. 9499, Protecting Taxpayers From Ghost Preparers Act · Aug 2026

Passed the House by on September 15, 2026 — sitting in the Senate.

  1. House

    Introduced

    (Jun 29, 2026)

  2. House

    Committee on Ways and Means(Jun 29, 2026)

  3. House

    The Committee on Ways and Means voted to send it to the floor

    Reported 40 - 0(Jul 1, 2026)

    Committee report H. Rept. 119-806.

  4. House

    Passage of the bill

    Passed by (Sep 15, 2026)

    No individual votes were recorded.

  5. Senate

    Received from the House

    on Finance(Sep 16, 2026)