[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5275 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5275

  To provide for the remittance to certain Indian veterans of amounts 
  withheld from military basic pay for State income tax purposes for 
    periods of time those veterans were in active service and were 
                      domiciled in Indian country.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 7, 2004

Mr. Udall of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. George Miller of California, 
 Mr. Rahall, and Mr. Kildee) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for the remittance to certain Indian veterans of amounts 
  withheld from military basic pay for State income tax purposes for 
    periods of time those veterans were in active service and were 
                      domiciled in Indian country.

    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 ``American Indian Veterans Pay 
Restoration Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. REMITTANCE TO CERTAIN INDIAN VETERANS OF AMOUNTS WITHHELD FROM 
              MILITARY BASIC PAY FOR STATE INCOME TAX PURPOSES.

    (a) Payment.--The Secretary concerned shall pay to each person who 
is a qualifying Indian veteran an amount equal to the amount of basic 
pay of that person withheld as State income tax as determined under 
subsection (c). The Secretary shall ensure that such payments are made 
as expeditiously as possible, subject to subsection (f).
    (b) Qualifying Indian Veterans.--For purposes of this section, a 
qualifying Indian veteran is a person who--
            (1) is a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe;
            (2) is or was a member of the uniformed services; and
            (3) while performing active service in the uniformed 
        services, incurred State income tax withholding from basic pay 
        for a period during which the legal domicile of that Indian was 
        in Indian country.
    (c) Determination of Amount to Be Paid.--The amount to be paid to 
any person under this section is the total amount of State income tax 
withholding from basic pay incurred by that person for periods during 
which the legal domicile of that person was in Indian country, reduced 
by any amount of such withholding previously recovered by that person 
from the State with respect to which such withholding was made. 
Interest on any such withholding during any calendar year shall be 
allowed and paid (using the overpayment rate determined under section 
6621 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and compounded daily) from 
January 1 of the following calendar year to a date to be determined by 
the Secretary concerned. Such date may precede the date of the refund 
check by not more than 30 days, whether or not such refund check is 
accepted by the taxpayer after tender of such check to the taxpayer. 
The acceptance of such check shall be without prejudice to any right of 
the taxpayer to claim any additional payment and interest thereon.
    (d) Survivors.--In the case of a qualifying Indian veteran who is 
deceased, the Secretary concerned shall make a payment under this 
section, upon receipt of an application under subsection (e), in the 
same manner as specified in section 1477 of title 10, United States 
Code, for the payment of a death gratuity under section 1475 or 1476 of 
such title.
    (e) Applications.--A person seeking a payment under this section 
shall submit to the Secretary concerned an application for such 
payment. Any such application shall be in such form and shall include 
such information as the Secretary may require, including information 
attesting to the status of such person as a Indian and attesting to the 
domicile of such person, while a member of the uniformed services, in 
Indian country. Such application shall also include the applicant's 
attestation that the amount of State income tax withholding for which 
the application is submitted has not previously been recovered by that 
person from the relevant State.
    (f) Funding.--Payments under this section shall be made from 
amounts appropriated or otherwise made available for such purpose in 
appropriations Acts. There is authorized to be appropriated for the 
purposes of this section the amount of $5,000,000.
    (g) Recovery From States.--When the Secretary concerned makes a 
payment under this section to any person, the United States shall 
become subrogated to any claim of that person against a State for the 
amount so paid, and the Secretary shall seek to recover from that State 
the amount (including interest) so paid. The Secretary shall have the 
right to recover such amount, by offset, from any amount otherwise 
payable by the Secretary to that State under any other program or 
activity.
    (h) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary concerned'' 
        has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 37, 
        United States Code.
            (2) Uniformed services.--The term ``uniformed services'' 
        has the meaning given that term in section 101 of title 37, 
        United States Code.
            (3) Indian country.--The term ``Indian country'' has the 
        meaning given that term in subsections (a) and (b) of section 
        1151 of title 18, United States Code.
                                 <all>