House Ways and Means Passes Seven More Tax Related Bills Out of Committee

On July 1, 2026, the House Ways and Means Committee held its markup of a package of several more minor tax bills, generally focused on taxpayer relief, IRS operations, and reporting requirements. While five of the bills were voted favorably out of committee unanimously, two bills had a vigorous debate and several amendments offered before ultimately being voted out in a split vote. Of particular note is H.R. 9504, which was the most robust bill of the package and would create new filing burdens for hospitals that are classified as tax-exempt under the IRC. Both these bills have their vote count noted.

What Will Each Tax Bill Do?

Taxpayer Workforce Modernization Act (H.R. 7972) – This bill, introduced by Rep. Schweikert (R-AZ), would create a pilot fellowship program to hire data scientists at no lower than the GS-15 level to work for the IRS as part of an audit taskforce. The program would be required to have at least ten fellows, each hired for a two-, three-, or four-year term of service, with the ability to extend the fellowship indefinitely in one-year increments. This bill generated a lively debate regarding IRS budget cuts over the past several years. An amendment that would have required the bill to exempt taxpayers making $100,000 or less from audit was not adopted. Voted favorably out of committee on a party line vote (24-16).

End Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act (H.R. 9496) – This Act, introduced by the bipartisan group of Reps. Tenney (R-NY), Titus (D-NV), and Beyer (D-VA), would add a new provision extending due dates for hostages and persons wrongfully detained by disregarding the period of detention for purposes of determining deadlines, interest, and penalties.

Taxpayer Advocate Participation Act (H.R. 9498) – This is another bipartisan bill, introduced by Reps. Steube (R-FL) and DelBene (D-WA). The bill would allow the National Taxpayer Advocate to file an amicus brief (that is, a brief in support of a particular party or position even though you are not a party to the lawsuit) in any action brought in a court of the U.S. related to federal tax law, but only to present views related to issues which may impact the rights of taxpayers.

Protecting Taxpayers from Ghost Preparers Act (H.R. 9499) – The bill, as introduced by Rep. Malliotakis (R-NY), would have shifted responsibility for certain fraudulent returns from taxpayers to paid tax preparers and applied preparer penalties to both valid filings and documents submitted as filings that do not meet the requirements to be treated as valid returns, including returns altered by a preparer after they were signed by the taxpayer. It would also restrict the statute of limitations period for false or fraudulent returns to only cases in which the taxpayer intended to evade tax, not where there was fraud on the part of a paid preparer. Chairman Smith (R-MO) offered an amendment to remove the portion of the bill applying penalties to both valid returns and documents submitted as filings, which was adopted by a unanimous vote.

Tax Relief for Fraud Victims Act (H.R. 9500) – This bipartisan bill, introduced by Reps. Miller (R-OH) and Suozzi (D-NY), would restore pre-2018 casualty loss laws for IRC Sec. 165.

AI Tax Integrity Act of 2026 (H.R. 9501) – Introduced by Reps. Buchanan (R-FL), Bean (R-FL), Schweikert (R-AZ), and Horsford (D-NV), this bill would establish a pilot program for the IRS to use AI to identify inaccurate returns including those resulting from identify theft, fraudulent claims for EITC, and ghost preparers.

What Is the Tax-Exempt Hospital Transparency Act (H.R. 9504)?

The bill introduced by Rep. Murphy (R-NC) requires a more detailed explanation. Generally, H.R. 9504 would require tax-exempt hospitals to report more information on their Form 990 to be available for public inspection, with even further requirements for newly defined “large tax-exempt hospital organizations” or “high revenue tax-exempt hospitals.”

Under the bill, all hospitals would be required to provide the following information on their Form 990:

1. A description of how it is addressing the needs identified in its most recent community health needs assessment and a description of any such needs that are not being addressed and why;
2. Its audited financial statements;
3. The organization’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services certification number;
4. The value of financial assistance provided during the taxable year; and
5. The number of completed financial assistance applications received, granted, and denied during the taxable year.

Large and High Revenue Tax-Exempt Hospitals

Large tax-exempt hospitals are defined in the bill as any organization that is not a critical access or rural emergency hospital that has more than 100 staffed inpatient beds; while a high revenue tax-exempt hospital is defined as an organization that is not a critical access or rural emergency hospital that has net patient revenue of more than $100 million for the taxable year.

The bill requires large tax-exempt hospital organizations to report the following:

1. The three highest priority health needs identified in the organization’s most recent community health needs assessment, the amount of spending during the taxable year on programs designed to address each such need, and a description of actions taken to meet each need; and
2. The amount of spending by the organization on quality improvement, nonclinical programming, and other community benefits.

High-revenue tax-exempt hospital organizations must report specified advertising information, specific health service line information, and specified federal 340B drug discount program information.

Due to its compliance burden on hospitals, this bill generated the most controversy and debate during the markup. Rep. Beyer (D, VA) offered an amendment that would have expanded the carve-outs to vulnerable urban hospitals in addition to critical access and rural emergency hospitals, which was not adopted. Voted favorably out of committee on a party line vote (25-15).

What Happens Next?

These bills can now be brought to the House floor for consideration; however, timing of a vote remains a major question. The House adjourned early for its July work period on June 30 and will return on July 14, 2026. The early break comes as Republican House members declined to pass a rule to bring a vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Once Congress returns, there are several other legislative priorities that may take precedence over these bills, such as passing the NDAA, reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and Fiscal Year Appropriations bills. While these bills will all take priority, they could also offer an opportunity to attach the tax bills for passage. Additionally, a previous package of bipartisan bills was voted on by the House fairly quickly after their markup concluded. A similar package of bills, the Taxpayer Assistance Services Act, remains in the Senate as well. We will continue to monitor both packages for future movement.

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