[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 785 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 785

  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the payment of 
   dividends on the stock of cooperatives without reducing patronage 
                               dividends.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 3, 2003

 Mr. Baucus (for himself, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Coleman, Mr. 
Harkin, Mr. Craig, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Burns, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
   Dayton, Mr. Fitzgerald, Mrs. Lincoln, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Hagel, Mr. 
 Conrad, and Mr. Hatch) introduced the following bill; which was read 
             twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow the payment of 
   dividends on the stock of cooperatives without reducing patronage 
                               dividends.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PAYMENT OF DIVIDENDS ON STOCK OF COOPERATIVES WITHOUT 
              REDUCING PATRONAGE DIVIDENDS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 1388 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to patronage dividend defined) is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: ``For purposes 
of paragraph (3), net earnings shall not be reduced by amounts paid 
during the year as dividends on capital stock or other proprietary 
capital interests of the organization to the extent that the articles 
of incorporation or bylaws of such organization or other contract with 
patrons provide that such dividends are in addition to amounts 
otherwise payable to patrons which are derived from business done with 
or for patrons during the taxable year.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall apply 
to distributions in taxable years beginning after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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