[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3613 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3613

     To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the 
   disclosure of return information for student financial assistance 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 21, 2003

 Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas (for himself, Mr. Boehner, and Mr. Houghton) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the 
   disclosure of return information for student financial assistance 
                               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 ``Student Aid Streamlined Disclosure 
Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURN INFORMATION FOR STUDENT AID PURPOSES.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (l) of section 6103 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure of returns and return 
information for purposes other than tax administration) is amended to 
read as follows:
            ``(13) Disclosure of return information for student 
        financial assistance purposes.--
                    ``(A) Full disclosure to department of education.--
                The Secretary may, with respect to a person described 
                in subparagraph (F)(i) and upon written request from 
                the Secretary of Education, disclose to the officers 
                and employees of the Department of Education for the 
                purposes described in subparagraph (E)--
                            ``(i) taxpayer identity information, and
                            ``(ii) the following items in the case of a 
                        material discrepancy between the information 
                        reported, directly or indirectly, to officers, 
                        employees, and contractors of the Department of 
                        Education and the following items:
                                    ``(I) The filing status of that 
                                taxpayer.
                                    ``(II) The adjusted gross income of 
                                that taxpayer.
                                    ``(III) The total earnings from 
                                employment (including net earnings from 
                                self-employment) of that taxpayer.
                                    ``(IV) The Federal income tax 
                                liability of that taxpayer.
                                    ``(V) The type of tax return filed 
                                by that taxpayer.
                    ``(B) Redisclosure to contractors.--Officers and 
                employees of the Department of Education may disclose 
                to contractors whether a material discrepancy between 
                items reported, directly or indirectly, to an officer, 
                employee, or contractor of the Department of Education 
                and any of the items described in subparagraph (A)(ii) 
                would result in an over or under award of grants or 
                loans under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
                1965.
                    ``(C) Fact of discrepancy redisclosure of 
                information.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Subject to subparagraphs 
                        (D) and (E), officers, employees, and 
                        contractors of the Department of Education may, 
                        with respect to an application for assistance 
                        under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 
                        1965, disclose to persons described in clauses 
                        (ii) and (iii)--
                                    ``(I) the fact of a material 
                                discrepancy between items reported, 
                                directly or indirectly, to such 
                                officers, employees, or contractors and 
                                any of the items described in 
                                subparagraph (A)(ii), and
                                    ``(II) whether such items as shown 
                                on the return are greater than or less 
                                than such items as reported to the 
                                Department of Education.
                            ``(ii) Applicant.--The person described in 
                        this clause is the applicant described in 
                        subclause (I) or (II) of subparagraph (F)(i).
                            ``(iii) Other persons.--The persons 
                        described in this clause are--
                                    ``(I) individuals whose information 
                                is discrepant,
                                    ``(II) officers and employees of 
                                institutions of higher education (as 
                                defined in section 102 of the Higher 
                                Education Act of 1965) that administer, 
                                or assist the Secretary of Education in 
                                administering, a grant, loan, benefit, 
                                or work assistance program under title 
                                IV of such Act,
                                    ``(III) officers and employees of 
                                State agencies that administer a grant 
                                or work assistance program under 
                                subpart 4 of part A of title IV of such 
                                Act, and
                                    ``(IV) auditors engaged to perform 
                                audits or reviews required under 
                                section 487(c) of such Act,
                    ``(D) Limitation on full redisclosures relating to 
                material discrepancies.--Information specific to an 
                individual which is disclosed by the Secretary under 
                subparagraph (A) may only be redisclosed to the 
                individual whose information is discrepant and to the 
                Department of Justice for purposes relating to the 
                collection of overpayments of grants or loans provided 
                under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 
                including by means of litigation.
                    ``(E) Restriction on use of disclosed 
                information.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Information may be 
                        disclosed under subparagraphs (A) through (C) 
                        only for the purpose of, and to the extent 
                        necessary to--
                                    ``(I) verify the information 
                                reported by a person described in 
                                subparagraph (F)(i) in connection with 
                                any application for grant, loan, 
                                benefit or work assistance under title 
                                IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965,
                                    ``(II) determine income contingent 
                                repayment amounts and schedules on an 
                                applicable student loan,
                                    ``(III) collect overpayments of 
                                grants or loans provided under title IV 
                                of such Act, including by means of 
                                litigation in the case of the 
                                Department of Justice, or
                                    ``(IV) audit title IV student 
                                assistance programs, as required under 
                                section 487(c) of such Act.
                            ``(ii) Information limited to tax years 
                        required.--Information disclosed under this 
                        paragraph shall be limited to the tax years 
                        required, in accordance with such Act and 
                        implementing regulations, to carry out the 
                        purposes described in this paragraph.
                    ``(F) Definitions and special rules.--For purposes 
                of this paragraph--
                            ``(i) Person described.--A person is 
                        described in this clause if the person--
                                    ``(I) has applied for grant, loan, 
                                benefit, or work assistance under title 
                                IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965,
                                    ``(II) is seeking income contingent 
                                repayment on an applicable student 
                                loan,
                                    ``(III) in the case of an 
                                individual who is a dependent student 
                                and who has applied for the assistance 
                                described in subclauses (I) and (II), 
                                is the parent (as defined for purposes 
                                of title IV of such Act) of such 
                                individual, or
                                    ``(IV) in the case of an individual 
                                who is an independent student and who 
                                has applied for the assistance 
                                described in subclauses (I) and (II), 
                                is the spouse of such individual.
                            ``(ii) Material discrepancy.--The term 
                        `material discrepancy' means, with respect to 
                        similar items in 2 sets of information--
                                    ``(I) a difference between such 
                                sets of not less than the greater of 
                                $100 or one percent of the item shown 
                                on the return in the case of items 
                                described in subclause (II), (III), or 
                                (IV) of subparagraph (A)(ii), and
                                    ``(II) any difference between such 
                                sets of information in the case of 
                                items described in subclause (I) or (V) 
                                of subparagraph (A)(ii).
                            ``(iii) Applicable student loan.--The term 
                        `applicable student loan' means--
                                    ``(I) any loan made under the 
                                program authorized under part D of 
                                title IV of such Act, and
                                    ``(II) any loan made under part B 
                                or E of title IV of such Act that is in 
                                default and has been assigned to the 
                                Department of Education.
                            ``(iv) Exclusive authority.--For purposes 
                        of subsection (a), subsection (c) shall not be 
                        construed to be an authorization for any 
                        disclosure covered by this paragraph.
                            ``(v) Funding.--Information may be 
                        disclosed under this paragraph only if there is 
                        in effect an agreement between the Secretary 
                        and the Secretary of Education under which the 
                        Secretary of Education makes periodic payments 
                        to the Secretary--
                                    ``(I) to reimburse the Secretary 
                                for costs incurred in carrying out this 
                                paragraph, and
                                    ``(II) to cover the cost to the 
                                Secretary of monitoring compliance with 
                                this section by the Secretary of 
                                Education in carrying out this 
                                paragraph.
                            ``(vi) References to higher education act 
                        of 1965.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
                        references to the Higher Education Act of 1965 
                        shall be treated as references to the Higher 
                        Education Act of 1965 as in effect on the date 
                        of the enactment of this paragraph.
                    ``(G) Termination.--This paragraph shall not apply 
                to requests for disclosures made after September 30, 
                2008.''.
    (b) Conforming and Other Amendments.--
            (1) Section 6103(a)(3) of such Code is amended by striking 
        ``paragraph (6), (12), or (16) of subsection (l),'' and 
        inserting ``paragraph (6), (12), (13), or (16) of subsection 
        (l),''.
            (2) Section 6103(p) of such Code is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking ``(13)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (4) by striking ``paragraph 
                (6)(A), (12)(B), or (16) of subsection (l)'' in the 
                flush language at the end and inserting ``paragraph 
                (6)(A), (12)(B), (13), or (16) of subsection (l)''.
            (3) Section 7213(a)(2) of such Code is amended by inserting 
        ``(13),'' after ``(12),''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to requests for disclosures made after the date of the enactment 
of this Act.
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