REQUIREMENT TO FILE TAX RETURNS TO CONFIRM CHAPTER 13 PLANS.

SEC. 716. REQUIREMENT TO FILE TAX RETURNS TO CONFIRM CHAPTER 13 PLANS.(a) Filing of Prepetition Tax Returns Required for Plan Confirmation.—Section 1325(a) of title 11, United States Code, as amended by sections 102, 213, and 306, is amended by inserting after paragraph (8) the following:“(9) the debtor has filed all applicable Federal, State, and local tax returns as required by section 1308.”.(b) Additional Time Permitted for Filing Tax Returns.—(1) In general.—Subchapter I of chapter 13 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:“§ 1308. Filing of prepetition tax returns“(a) Not later than the day before the date on which the meeting of the creditors is first scheduled to be held under section 341(a), if the debtor was required to file a tax return under applicable nonbankruptcy law, the debtor shall file with appropriate tax authorities all tax returns for all taxable periods ending during the 4-year period ending on the date of the filing of the petition.“(b)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), if the tax returns required by subsection (a) have not been filed by the date on which the meeting of creditors is first scheduled to be held under section 341(a), the trustee may hold open that meeting for a reasonable period of time to allow the debtor an additional period of time to file any unfiled returns, but such additional period of time shall not extend beyond—“(A) for any return that is past due as of the date of the filing of the petition, the date that is 120 days after the date of that meeting; or “(B) for any return that is not past due as of the date of the filing of the petition, the later of—“(i) the date that is 120 days after the date of that meeting; or “(ii) the date on which the return is due under the last automatic extension of time for filing that return to which the debtor is entitled, and for which request is timely made, in accordance with applicable nonbankruptcy law. 119 STAT. 130“(2) After notice and a hearing, and order entered before the tolling of any applicable filing period determined under this subsection, if the debtor demonstrates by a preponderance of the evidence that the failure to file a return as required under this subsection is attributable to circumstances beyond the control of the debtor, the court may extend the filing period established by the trustee under this subsection for—“(A) a period of not more than 30 days for returns described in paragraph (1); and“(B) a period not to extend after the applicable extended due date for a return described in paragraph (2).“(c) For purposes of this section, the term ‘return’ includes a return prepared pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of section 6020 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or a similar State or local law, or a written stipulation to a judgment or a final order entered by a nonbankruptcy tribunal.” .(2) Conforming amendment.—The table of sections for subchapter I of chapter 13 of title 11, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: “1308. Filing of prepetition tax returns.”. (c) Dismissal or Conversion on Failure To Comply.—Section 1307 of title 11, United States Code, is amended—(1) by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections (f) and (g), respectively; and(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the following:“(e) Upon the failure of the debtor to file a tax return under section 1308, on request of a party in interest or the United States trustee and after notice and a hearing, the court shall dismiss a case or convert a case under this chapter to a case under chapter 7 of this title, whichever is in the best interest of the creditors and the estate.”.(d) Timely Filed Claims.—Section 502(b)(9) of title 11, United States Code, is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, and except that in a case under chapter 13, a claim of a governmental unit for a tax with respect to a return filed under section 1308 shall be timely if the claim is filed on or before the date that is 60 days after the date on which such return was filed as required”.(e) Rules for Objections to Claims and to Confirmation.—It is the sense of Congress that the Judicial Conference of the United States should, as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, propose amended Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that provide—(1) notwithstanding the provisions of Rule 3015(f), in cases under chapter 13 of title 11, United States Code, that an objection to the confirmation of a plan filed by a governmental unit on or before the date that is 60 days after the date on which the debtor files all tax returns required under sections 1308 and 1325(a)(7) of title 11, United States Code, shall be treated for all purposes as if such objection had been timely filed before such confirmation; and(2) in addition to the provisions of Rule 3007, in a case under chapter 13 of title 11, United States Code, that no objection to a claim for a tax with respect to which a return is required to be filed under section 1308 of title 11, United 119 STAT. 131 States Code, shall be filed until such return has been filed as required.