New 25% tax on remittances hits immigrant families hardest
H.R. 8995 — REMITTANCE Act · Filed by Chip Roy (R-TX) · Introduced May 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill raises the federal excise tax on remittance transfers (money sent abroad) from its current rate to 25 percent, removes caps on that tax, and creates a refundable tax credit allowing U.S. citizens to reclaim the excise tax they pay on remittances for business or travel purposes. The revenue from the tax goes to deficit reduction, but citizens who send money abroad for qualifying reasons get the tax back.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a 25% excise tax on remittance transfers with a refundable credit carved out for citizens sending money for business or travel. This creates a targeted tax increase on a specific financial activity (remittances) paired with a partial exemption for certain purposes, making it a hybrid revenue/relief measure rather than a straightforward tax or subsidy.
What the text implies
- The refundable credit is limited to 'citizens of the US' and requires the sender to certify the purpose (business or travel), creating a compliance burden and potential for disputes over what qualifies—non-citizens sending remittances receive no credit and bear the full 25% tax.
- The bill does not define 'business or travel purposes' with precision, leaving the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations; this regulatory discretion may create uncertainty about which remittances qualify for the credit and could lead to inconsistent application.
- Remittance transfers are disproportionately used by immigrant and diaspora communities to support family members abroad; a 25% tax on these transfers will reduce the amount of money reaching vulnerable populations in developing countries, with potential humanitarian consequences.
- The credit is refundable, meaning taxpayers can receive more in credit than they owe in tax, but only if they are U.S. citizens and can prove the transfer was for business or travel—this creates a two-tier system where non-citizens and those unable to document purpose bear the full tax burden.
- Revenue from the excise tax is dedicated to deficit reduction, not to any offsetting public benefit or program, making this a pure revenue-raising measure on a specific population rather than a policy designed to achieve a regulatory or social goal.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill imposes a new 25% tax on remittances, which will increase costs for ordinary Americans sending money to family abroad—a significant burden on immigrant households and diaspora communities. However, the refundable credit for citizens sending money for business or travel purposes partially offsets this cost for some taxpayers, creating a two-tier system where the benefit depends on the stated purpose of the transfer.
Who stands to gain
- U.S. Treasury (deficit reduction)
- Remittance transfer providers (may pass tax to consumers or absorb as cost)
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 4475 (excise tax on remittance transfers), Section 36C (new refundable tax credit), Electronic Fund Transfer Act (15 U.S.C. 1693o–1), Public Law 119–21, U.S. Treasury, Secretary of the Treasury
Where it stands
- May 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 21, 2026 — 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.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $42,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 19 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Chip Roy, the sponsor, reported $68,100 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Federation for American Immigration Reform — $42,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 16, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (2,715 characters) on Aug 18, 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 16, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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