Part A – Purpose and Summary:
This is my second post on H.R. 4501. My first post was a general introduction and is here:
Colorado Congressman Jeff Hurd Recognizes Problems Of U.S. Citizenship Taxation
The purpose of this post is to argue that H.R.4501 does NOT protect U.S. citizen Pope Leo from the invasive reporting obligations which are at the heart of what it means to be a U.S. citizen. The Catholic Church may rue the day that it elected a U.S. citizen as pope.
To put it simply:
H.R.4501 exempts Pope Leo from Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code (the income tax). It does not:
1. Exempt him from Subtitle F – specifically Chapter 61 – which is where the penalty-laden information reporting requirements are found; and
2. It does not exempt him from section 5314 of 31 U.S.C. which is where the FBAR requirements are found.
For H.R. 4501 to achieve the tax and reporting related aspects of its legislative purpose it must:
– either exempt him from Subtitle F in addition to exempting him from Subtitle A or exempt him entirely from Title 26 (The Internal Revenue Code); AND
– exempt him from 5314 of 31 U.S.C.
This post is organized as follows:
Part A – Purpose and Summary:
Part B – The Concerns Articulated By Representatives Of The Catholic Church And Others
Part C – Parsing H.R.4501 – why it does NOT achieve what it purports to achieve:
Part D- An X.com thread discussing this issue …
Part B – The Concerns Articulated By Representatives Of The Catholic Church And Others
Ever since Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected pope, there has been speculation about possible problems caused by his U.S. citizenship. U.S. tax lawyer Virginia La Torre Jeker and I produced two podcasts discussing the complications of having a U.S. citizen pope. The first podcast took place on May 4, 2025 (before he was elected) and the second on May 16, 2025. Both Virginia and I have identified the reporting obligations imposed on U.S. citizens (including FBAR) as the far more serious problem.
Here is our May 16, 2025 podcast which provides a link to the May 4, 2025 podcast.
Since that time there have been numerous articles written about this issue. Of particular interest are those appearing in the Pillar Catholic substack.
Articles on the Pillar Catholic substack identify the unusual reporting requirements imposed on ALL U.S. citizens because and only because of their U.S. citizenship. Excerpts include:
Pillar Catholic – May 20, 2025 – Identifying the reporting obligations as a problem
Could Pope Leo actually renounce his American citizenship?
A more pressing, and harder to waive away, issue would likely prove to be the pope’s tax status.
—
All U.S. citizens are required to file annual tax returns and financial disclosures with the Internal Revenue Service, and their income is subject to taxation — however and wherever in the world it is derived.It is of course an open question what “salary” the pope can be said to receive personally — while the office formally comes with a modest stipend, it is legally contestable whether this is the same thing as a salary. And, more to the point, Leo could decline to take it, divert it to a charitable end, or decree it to be zero.
But the more complicated issue would be what is required of him in his annual financial disclosures. While declaring to the IRS his official stipend might not prove a prohibitive burden for the pope in choosing to keep his citizenship, it’s not at all clear that the IRS would consider a simple declaration of income and personal assets sufficient.
Separate from official charitable funds linked to the Petrine office, the popes have and maintain personal discretionary accounts for personal and personally selected charitable expenses.
These are often funded by dedicated donations from individual Catholics for the pope’s private use and could reasonably be argued to be required for declaration on an annual tax return.
More broadly, funds like Peter’s Pence, the annual global collection to support the ministry and priorities of the Bishop of Rome, could easily be argued as fair game for federal tax purposes — at least as far as filing and declarations go, if not as taxable income.
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/could-pope-leo-actually-renounce/
As early as May 20, 2025 concerns over Pope Leo’s U.S. citizenship were emerging within the Church.
Pillar Catholic – July 23, 2025 – Mistakenly writing that the H.R.4501 will protect Pope Leo from reporting
He’s a real American: Bill aims to protect pope’s US citizenship
“The Pillar reported that shortly after Pope Leo’s election, senior officials in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State were concerned with the pope’s obligation to file U.S. tax returns and disclose income and assets, which could be held to include Vatican funds under control of the papal office.
Hurd’s bill would prevent Leo from any required financial disclosures to the IRS.
It would also prevent explicitly an American pope from seeing his citizenship revoked during his time in office.
From the perspective of the U.S. government, becoming a foreign head of state does not automatically result in the loss of U.S. citizenship — though it could.
The U.S. State Department says that it may “actively review cases in which a U.S. national is elected or otherwise appointed to serve as a foreign head of state, foreign head of government, or foreign minister. Such cases raise complex questions of international law, including issues related to the level of immunity from U.S. jurisdiction that the person so serving may be afforded.”
In May, The Pillar asked the U.S. State Department whether it intends to review Pope Leo’s citizenship. A State Department spokesperson said the department does not comment on the citizenship status of individuals.”
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/hes-a-real-american-bill-aims-to
The article is misreading H.R.4501. It simply does NOT exempt Pope Leo from the onerous U.S. penalty-laden and intrusive reporting requirements Here is why …
Part C – Parsing H.R.4501 – why it does NOT achieve what it purports to achieve:
Text of H.R.4501 …
H.R.4501 – To protect the citizenship of, and provide tax-exempt status to, any American elected as the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4501
Here is the text of the bill. It’s amazingly clear. It’s amazingly honest. It states that Subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code will not apply to Pope Leo. It is certainly one of the most honest and clear carve outs I have ever seen. (Interestingly it would NOT exempt Pope Leo from subtitle F which contains the international information return reporting requirements.)
Let’s take a close look at the actual text of the bill.
19TH CONGRESS
1 ST SESSION H. R. 4501
To protect the citizenship of, and provide tax-exempt status to, any American
elected as the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 17, 2025
Mr. HURD of Colorado (for himself, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Mrs. BICE, Mr. G ROTHMAN , Mr. L AWLER , Mr. J ACK, and Mr. F LEISCHMANN ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To protect the citizenship of, and provide tax-exempt status to, any American elected as the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Holy Sovereignty Protection Act’’.
SEC. 2. PROTECTION OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.
(a) IN GENERAL .—The United States citizenship of any individual elected as the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church may not be revoked.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE .—This section shall take effect upon the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. TAX-EXEMPT STATUS.
(a) IN GENERAL .—In the case of any citizen of the United States, such individual shall be exempt from taxation under subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 with respect to any taxable year any portion of which he is serving as the Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE .—This section shall apply to taxable years ending after May 8, 2025.
Too little! At best, this would exempt Pope Leo from filing a U.S. tax return.
Part D- An X.com thread discussing this issue …
or here:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1950870059586355505.html
John Richardson – Follow me on X.com @Expatriationlaw