Scott Fitzgerald: “This amendment simply seeks to ensure that any reparations received by victims of the Holocaust--reparations or…”

“This amendment simply seeks to ensure that any reparations received by victims of the Holocaust--reparations or settlement payments received by those victims not be subject to Federal income taxes. Actually, our tax law provides that if money is stolen from somebody, or if property is stolen from somebody, and that is later recovered, that person should not have to pay income tax on getting their own money back. However, there have been a number of conflicting revenue rulings in this area, and the victims of the Holocaust, which occurred at the hands of the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s, are concerned that the reparations they are receiving from a variety of settlement funds, from banks and insurance companies in Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere--that under the current revenue rulings of the IRS, there might be some confusion as to whether those settlement payments are taxable income. This amendment simply seeks to ensure that the IRS would not treat as taxable income any Holocaust reparations or payments.”