Congress gives trafficking survivors a tax break on their compensation
H.R. 6227 — Human Trafficking Survivor Tax Relief Act · Filed by Brad Schneider (D-IL) · 3 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 20, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill excludes from taxable income any money that human trafficking survivors receive as restitution or damages—either through criminal restitution orders or civil lawsuits under federal trafficking law. Survivors will no longer owe federal income tax on these payments, treating them like other injury compensation rather than taxable income.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a narrow tax exclusion for a specific class of vulnerable people—trafficking survivors—removing federal tax liability on compensation they receive. This is straightforward remedial legislation with no hidden provisions or riders.
What the text implies
- Survivors may still owe state income tax on restitution/damages unless their state has adopted a similar exclusion; federal relief does not preempt state tax liability.
- The exclusion applies only to awards under the two named federal statutes (18 USC §1593 and §1595); trafficking survivors receiving compensation under state law or other federal statutes may not qualify.
- Effective date is prospective (taxable years beginning after enactment); survivors who received awards in prior years and paid federal tax on them would not benefit retroactively unless Congress passes a separate relief provision.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Human trafficking survivors receive tax relief on restitution and damages, allowing them to retain the full amount of compensation without federal tax burden. This recognizes the unique harm of trafficking and removes a financial penalty that previously reduced survivors' recovery.
Named in the bill
Human trafficking survivors, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), 18 USC §1593 (criminal restitution for trafficking), 18 USC §1595 (civil action for trafficking victims), IRC §139M (new tax exclusion)
Where it stands
3 cosponsors: 2 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Nov 20, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Nov 20, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,274 characters) on Jul 5, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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