[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 749 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 749
To provide that no Federal income tax shall be imposed on amounts
received by victims of the Nazi regime or their heirs or estates, and
for other purposes.
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IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 6, 2001
Mr. Fitzgerald (for himself, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Bingaman,
Mr. DeWine, Mrs. Clinton, Ms. Collins, Mr. Lieberman, Mr. McCain, Mr.
Kerry, Mrs. Feinstein, Ms. Snowe, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Smith of Oregon, and
Mr. Torricelli) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide that no Federal income tax shall be imposed on amounts
received by victims of the Nazi regime or their heirs or estates, and
for other purposes.
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 ``Holocaust Victims Tax Fairness Act
of 2001''.
SEC. 2. NO FEDERAL INCOME TAX ON RESTITUTION RECEIVED BY VICTIMS OF THE
NAZI REGIME OR THEIR HEIRS OR ESTATES.
(a) In General.--For purposes of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986,
any excludable restitution payments received by an eligible individual
(or the individual's heirs or estate)--
(1) shall not be included in gross income; and
(2) shall not be taken into account for purposes of
applying any provision of such Code which takes into account
excludable income in computing adjusted gross income, including
section 86 of such Code (relating to taxation of Social
Security benefits).
For purposes of such Code, the basis of any property received by an
eligible individual (or the individual's heirs or estate) as part of an
excludable restitution payment shall be the fair market value of such
property as of the time of the receipt.
(b) Coordination With Federal Means-Tested Programs.--
(1) In general.--Any excludable restitution payment shall
be disregarded in determining eligibility for, and the amount
of benefits or services to be provided under, any Federal or
federally assisted program which provides benefits or service
based, in whole or in part, on need.
(2) Prohibition against recovery of value of excessive
benefits or services.--No officer, agency, or instrumentality
of any government may attempt to recover the value of excessive
benefits or services provided under a program described in
subsection (a) before January 1, 2000, by reason of any failure
to take account of excludable restitution payments received
before such date.
(3) Notice required.--Any agency of government that has
taken into account excludable restitution payments in
determining eligibility for a program described in subsection
(a) before January 1, 2000, shall make a good faith effort to
notify any individual who may have been denied eligibility for
benefits or services under the program of the potential
eligibility of the individual for such benefits or services.
(4) Coordination with 1994 act.--Nothing in this Act shall
be construed to override any right or requirement under ``An
Act to require certain payments made to victims of Nazi
persecution to be disregarded in determining eligibility for
and the amount of benefits or services based on need'',
approved August 1, 1994 (Public Law 103-286; 42 U.S.C. 1437a
note), and nothing in that Act shall be construed to override
any right or requirement under this Act.
(c) Eligible Individual.--For purposes of this section, the term
``eligible individual'' means a person who was persecuted for racial or
religious reasons by Nazi Germany, any other Axis regime, or any other
Nazi-controlled or Nazi-allied country.
(d) Excludable Restitution Payment.--For purposes of this section,
the term ``excludable restitution payment'' means any payment or
distribution to an individual (or the individual's heirs or estate)
which--
(1) is payable by reason of the individual's status as an
eligible individual, including any amount payable by any
foreign country, the United States of America, or any other
foreign or domestic entity, or a fund established by any such
country or entity, any amount payable as a result of a final
resolution of a legal action, and any amount payable under a
law providing for payments or restitution of property;
(2) constitutes the direct or indirect return of, or
compensation or reparation for, assets stolen or hidden from,
or otherwise lost to, the individual before, during, or
immediately after World War II by reason of the individual's
status as an eligible individual, including any proceeds of
insurance under policies issued on eligible individuals by
European insurance companies immediately before and during
World War II; or
(3) consists of interest which is payable as part of any
payment or distribution described in paragraph (1) or (2).
(e) Effective Date.--
(1) In general.--This section shall apply to any amount
received on or after January 1, 2000.
(2) No inference.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed
to create any inference with respect to the proper tax
treatment of any amount received before January 1, 2000.
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