KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee has approved a new bill to prevent any American taxpayer dollars from reaching the Taliban.
In a statement on April 9, the committee said that the No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act was introduced by Republican Congressman Tim Burchett and passed during the committee’s first full markup session of the 119th Congress.
The legislation comes amid growing concern among U.S. lawmakers over reports that millions of dollars in international aid, sent to Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes, have been indirectly benefiting the Taliban regime.
Since the group’s return to power in August 2021, nearly $5 billion in U.S. aid has flowed into the country, with at least $10 million reportedly ending up in Taliban hands in the form of taxes and fees.
“This money has been taxed and stolen by the Taliban, yet we continue to send it,” said Rep. Burchett. “That definitely needs to end.”
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in May 2024 that regular weekly shipments of nearly $40 million had been sent to the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan’s Central Bank, raising alarm bells in Congress. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later confirmed that approximately $10 million had been paid to the Taliban in taxes during his testimony in December.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast stated that the United States does not recognize the Taliban and maintains no diplomatic presence in Kabul.
“We don’t want American tax dollars, in any way, shape or form, going to the Taliban,” Mast said. “This bill requires the State Department to actively discourage other countries and NGOs from providing support to the Taliban using U.S.-funded aid programs.”
The new measure builds on a previous bill passed in the last Congress, which also aimed to block aid from reaching the Taliban. While that bill was approved unanimously in the House, it stalled in the Senate.
The No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act currently has 23 co-sponsors and is now headed to the House floor for further debate and a full vote.
The move is seen as part of a broader effort by U.S. lawmakers—particularly Republicans—to cut off all financial pathways to the Taliban, whom they continue to label as a terrorist organization.
The legislation also signals increased scrutiny over the flow of foreign aid to Afghanistan amid ongoing concerns about the Taliban’s use of such funds to strengthen its grip on power.
