Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Pay Victims Not Prisoners Act”.
Pay Victims Not Prisoners Act
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make incarcerated taxpayers ineligible for recovery rebates, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Incarcerated taxpayers made ineligible for 2021 recovery rebate credits
2021 recovery rebates— Section 6428B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsections (h) and (i) as subsections (i) and (j), respectively, by striking “subsection (h)(1)” each place it appears and inserting “subsection (i)(1)”, and by inserting after subsection (g) the following new subsection:
“(h) Special rules with respect to prisoners
“(1) Disallowance of credit
“(A) In general—Subject to subparagraph (B), no credit shall be allowed under subsection (a) to an eligible individual who is, for each day during calendar year 2021, described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 202(x)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 402(x)(1)(A)).
“(B) Joint return—In the case of a joint return where 1 spouse is described in subparagraph (A), subsection (g) shall be applied by treating such spouse as having failed to include the valid identification number of such spouse on the return of tax for the taxable year.
“(2) Denial of advance refund or credit—No refund or credit shall be made or allowed under subsection (f) with respect to any individual whom the Secretary has knowledge is, at the time of any determination made pursuant to paragraph (3) of such subsection, described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of section 202(x)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act.”
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020.
Sec. 3 Disclosure of certain prisoner tax return information to Department of Justice
In general— Section 6103(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(23) Disclosure of return information to Department of Justice to carry out the Pay Victims Not Prisoners Act
“(A) In general—The Secretary shall, upon written request from the Attorney General, disclose to officers, employees, and contractors of the Department of Justice the return information of a taxpayer whose prisoner commissary account may be subject to adjustment under section 4 of the Pay Victims Not Prisoners Act. Such return information shall be limited to—
“(i) taxpayer identity information with respect to such taxpayer, and
“(ii) with respect to the refundable credit under section 6428B—
“(I) the amount of the refundable credit allowed to such taxpayer under such section,
“(II) verification of whether such refundable credit was disbursed electronically or via paper check,
“(III) if such refundable credit was disbursed electronically, verification of the account to which such refund was disbursed,
“(IV) the date on which such refund was disbursed, and
“(V) if applicable, the fact that there was no refund disbursed to such taxpayer with respect to such section.”
Effective date— The amendment made by this section shall apply to disclosures made after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Sec. 4 Payment of outstanding judgments against Federal prisoners using 2021 recovery rebate credits
Identification of prisoners who received 2021 recovery rebate credits— Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall identify—
the Federal prisoners who received a disbursement of a refundable credit under section 6428B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which was disbursed to the prisoner’s commissary account; and
of the Federal prisoners identified under paragraph (1), the prisoners who owe money pursuant to a judgment issued by a Federal court.
Payment of outstanding judgments— Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall make payments on any judgment described in subsection (a)(2) using amounts remaining in the prisoner’s commissary account from the disbursement described in subsection (a)(1).