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.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed HouseReceived; read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
Passed House (inferred from eh version)
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the …
Mr. LaHood (for himself, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Schneider, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Electronic Filing and Payment Fairness Act makes electronic tax submissions work the same way as paper mail for deadline purposes. Currently, if you mail a tax return or payment by the deadline, it counts as filed on time even if the IRS doesn't receive it until days later (the "mailbox rule"). This bill extends that same protection to electronic filings - your taxes are deemed filed on the date you hit "submit," not when the IRS processes them.
Who Benefits and How
Individual taxpayers and businesses that file electronically benefit by gaining protection against late penalties caused by IRS processing delays or system issues. If you submit your tax return or payment electronically by the deadline, you're covered - even if the IRS servers are slow or crash. Tax preparation software companies like Intuit (TurboTax) and H&R Block also benefit because this makes electronic filing more attractive and reliable for customers. Accountants and tax professionals gain protection from liability - they can't be blamed for late filings if they submitted electronically on time.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The IRS and Treasury Department must issue new regulations by December 31, 2025, and update their systems to track submission dates rather than processing dates. This creates administrative work and potentially shifts some enforcement burden. The federal government may also see minor revenue timing impacts if payments are legally deemed made earlier than they're actually processed, though this effect is likely minimal.
Key Provisions
- Amends Section 7502(c) of the Internal Revenue Code to add electronic filings and payments to the existing mailbox rule
- Establishes the electronic submission date as the legal filing/payment date, regardless of when the IRS receives or reviews it
- Requires the Treasury Secretary to issue implementing regulations by December 31, 2025
- Takes effect for all documents and payments sent after December 31, 2025
- Applies to all tax returns, claims, statements, and payments required under federal tax law
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Extends the mailbox rule to electronic tax documents and payments, deeming them filed/paid on the date sent rather than when received by the IRS
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Harmonize electronic and paper filing treatment to provide certainty for taxpayers and prevent late filing penalties due to IRS processing delays"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Individual taxpayers filing electronically
- Tax preparation firms and software companies
- Businesses making electronic tax payments
- Accountants and tax professionals
Likely Burden Bearers
- IRS (must implement new systems and regulations by Dec 31, 2025)
- Treasury Department (regulatory burden)
- Federal government (potential revenue timing issues if payments deemed made earlier)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The date on which a return, claim, statement, document, or payment is sent electronically to the IRS shall be deemed the date of delivery or payment, regardless of when the IRS receives or reviews it
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology