If any person willfully files a fraudulent information return with respect to payments purported to be made to any other person, such other person may bring a civil action for damages against the person so filing such return.
In any action brought under subsection (a), upon a finding of liability on the part of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the plaintiff in an amount equal to the greater of $5,000 or the sum of—
(1) any actual damages sustained by the plaintiff as a proximate result of the filing of the fraudulent information return (including any costs attributable to resolving deficiencies asserted as a result of such filing),
(2) the costs of the action, and
(3) in the court's discretion, reasonable attorneys' fees.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action to enforce the liability created under this section may be brought without regard to the amount in controversy and may be brought only within the later of—
(1) 6 years after the date of the filing of the fraudulent information return, or
(2) 1 year after the date such fraudulent information return would have been discovered by exercise of reasonable care.
Any person bringing an action under subsection (a) shall provide a copy of the complaint to the Internal Revenue Service upon the filing of such complaint with the court.
The decision of the court awarding damages in an action brought under subsection (a) shall include a finding of the correct amount which should have been reported in the information return.
For purposes of this section, the term "information return" means any statement described in section 6724(d)(1)(A).
(Added Pub. L. 104–168, title VI, §601(a), July 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 1462; amended Pub. L. 105–206, title VI, §6023(29), July 22, 1998, 112 Stat. 826.)
A prior section 7434 was renumbered 7437 of this title.
1998—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 105–206 substituted "attorneys' fees" for "attorneys fees".
Pub. L. 104–168, title VI, §601(c), July 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 1462, provided that: "The amendments made by this section [enacting this section and renumbering former section 7434 as 7435 of this title] shall apply to fraudulent information returns filed after the date of the enactment of this Act [July 30, 1996]."
There are no related Treasury Regulations for this Code section. To browse a full list of Treasury Regulations within TouchTax, view the "All Regulation Sections" option. 
The preliminary Code is a preliminary release of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the "Code") by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel and is subject to further revision before it is released again as a final version. The source of the preliminary Code used in TouchTax is available here: https://uscode.house.gov/download/download.shtml. The Code is a consolidation and codification by subject matter of the general and permanent laws of the U.S. prepared by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Treasury Regulations are a codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the departments and agencies of the federal government. The version of the Treasury Regulations available within TouchTax is part of the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations which is not an official legal edition of the Code of Federal Regulations but is an editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments produced by the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register (OFR) and the Government Publishing Office. The source of the CFR used in TouchTax is available here: https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/ECFR/title-26. Those using TouchTax for legal research should verify their results against the printed versions of the Code and Treasury Regulations. TouchTax is copyright 2024 by Com-Lab (Mobile). Learn more at http://touchtax.edrich.de.