Washington D.C. – Senator Chris Coons, Sept. 30, 2026
Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) spoke on the Senate floor tonight ahead of the Senate’s passage by unanimous consent of his bipartisan legislation to protect Americans who are held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad from facing fines and penalties for failing to pay taxes while in captivity.
“It’s ridiculous that one of the first things an American hostage or wrongful detainee receives from the government when they return home from captivity is a tax bill,” said Senator Coons. “I’ve been working for years to fix this flaw in our tax code to ensure that Americans currently held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad don’t owe thousands of dollars to the IRS when we finally bring them home. I’m so glad that my colleagues have finally supported this commonsense, bipartisan bill, and I hope the president signs it immediately to bring this cruel practice to an end.”
The End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, led by Senator Coons and Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), was inspired by Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who was wrongfully detained by the Iranian government for 544 days in 2014. After returning home, Rezaian received a bill for over $20,000 in interest, fines, and other penalties related to tax payments that were due while he was imprisoned in Iran.
The bill will prevent the IRS from imposing penalties and charging interest on tax payments that eligible Americans were unable to make while held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad. The bill will also provide relief for penalties already paid by certain former hostages and wrongful detainees who returned home in recent years. The IRS has previously made clear this tax issue could only be fixed through legislation.
