[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 640 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 640
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Higher Education Act
of 1965 to facilitate the disclosure of tax return information to carry
out the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 17, 2019
Mr. Doggett (for himself and Mr. Buchanan) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in
addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Higher Education Act
of 1965 to facilitate the disclosure of tax return information to carry
out the Higher Education Act of 1965, 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 ``Student Aid Simplification Act''.
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF CERTAIN TAX RETURN INFORMATION TO THE SECRETARY
OF EDUCATION.
(a) In General.--Paragraph (13) of section 6103(l) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
``(13) Disclosure of return information to the secretary of
education.--
``(A) Income-contingent or income-based repayment
and total and permanent disability discharge.--The
Secretary shall, upon written request from the
Secretary of Education, disclose to officers,
employees, and contractors of the Department of
Education, as specifically authorized and designated by
the Secretary of Education, only for the purpose of
(and to the extent necessary in) establishing,
renewing, administering, and conducting analyses and
forecasts for estimating costs related to income-
contingent or income-based repayment programs, and the
discharge of loans based on a total and permanent
disability (within the meaning of section 437(a) of the
Higher Education Act of 1965), under title IV of the
Higher Education Act of 1965 (as in effect on the date
of enactment of this paragraph), the following return
information (as defined in subsection (b)(2)) with
respect to taxpayers identified by the Secretary of
Education as participating in the loan programs under
title IV of such Act, for taxable years specified by
such Secretary:
``(i) Taxpayer identity information with
respect to such taxpayer.
``(ii) The filing status of such taxpayer.
``(iii) Type of tax return from which the
return information is provided.
``(iv) The adjusted gross income of such
taxpayer.
``(v) Total number of exemptions claimed,
or total number of individuals and dependents
claimed, as applicable, on the return.
``(vi) Number of children with respect to
which tax credits under section 24 are claimed
on the return.
``(B) Federal student financial aid.--The Secretary
shall, upon written request from the Secretary of
Education, disclose to officers, employees, and
contractors of the Department of Education, as
specifically authorized and designated by the Secretary
of Education, only for the purpose of (and to the
extent necessary in) determining eligibility for, and
amount of, Federal student financial aid under programs
authorized by title IV of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (as in effect on the date of enactment of this
paragraph) and conducting analyses and forecasts for
estimating costs related to such programs, the
following return information (as defined in subsection
(b)(2)) with respect to taxpayers identified by the
Secretary of Education as applicants for Federal
student financial aid under title IV of such Act, for
taxable years specified by such Secretary:
``(i) Taxpayer identity information with
respect to such taxpayer.
``(ii) The filing status of such taxpayer.
``(iii) Type of tax return from which the
return information is provided.
``(iv) The adjusted gross income of such
taxpayer.
``(v) The amount of any net earnings from
self-employment (as defined in section 1402),
wages (as defined in section 3121(a) or
3401(a)), and taxable income from a farming
business (as defined in section 236A(e)(4)) for
the period reported on the return.
``(vi) The total income tax of such
taxpayer.
``(vii) Total number of exemptions claimed,
or total number of individuals and dependents
claimed, as applicable, on the return.
``(viii) Number of children with respect to
which tax credits under section 24 are claimed
on the return.
``(ix) Amount of any credit claimed under
section 25A for the taxable year.
``(x) Amount of individual retirement
account distributions not included in adjusted
gross income for the taxable year.
``(xi) Amount of individual retirement
account contributions and payments to self-
employed SEP, Keogh, and other qualified plans
which were deducted from income for the taxable
year.
``(xii) The amount of tax-exempt interest.
``(xiii) Amounts from retirement pensions
and annuities not included in adjusted gross
income for the taxable year.
``(xiv) If applicable, the fact that there
is no return filed for such taxpayer for the
applicable year.
``(C) Restriction on use of disclosed
information.--
``(i) In general.--Return information
disclosed under subparagraphs (A) and (B) may
be used by officers, employees, and contractors
of the Department of Education, as specifically
authorized and designated by the Secretary of
Education, only for the purposes and to the
extent necessary described in such
subparagraphs and for mitigating risks (as
defined in clause (ii)) relating to the
programs described in such subparagraphs.
``(ii) Mitigating risks.--For purposes of
this subparagraph, the term `mitigating risks'
means, with respect to the programs described
in subparagraphs (A) and (B)--
``(I) analyzing or estimating costs
associated with potential changes to
the need-analysis formula,
``(II) oversight activities by the
Office of Inspector General of the
Department of Education as authorized
by the Inspector General Act of 1978,
as amended,
``(III) developing or administering
statistical models that inform support
to populations of Federal student loan
borrowers who are at risk of default or
delinquency,
``(IV) reducing the net cost of
improper payments to Federal financial
aid recipients, and
``(V) producing aggregate
statistics for reporting, research, or
consumer information on the performance
of programs or institutions of higher
education participating in the programs
under title IV of the Higher Education
Act of 1965.
Such term does not include the conduct of
criminal investigations or prosecutions.
``(iii) Redisclosure to institutions of
higher education, state higher education
agencies, and designated scholarship
organizations.--The Secretary of Education, and
officers, employees, and contractors of the
Department of Education, may disclose return
information received under subparagraph (B),
solely for the use in the application, award,
and administration of Federal student financial
aid, State aid, or aid awarded by eligible
institutions or such entities as the Secretary
of Education may designate, to the following
persons:
``(I) An institution of higher
education with which the Secretary of
Education has an agreement under
subpart 1 of part A, or part D or E, of
title IV of the Higher Education Act of
1965.
``(II) A State higher education
agency.
``(III) A scholarship organization
which is designated by the Secretary of
Education as of the date of the
enactment of the Student Aid
Simplification Act as an organization
eligible to receive the information
provided under this clause.
The preceding sentence shall only apply to the
extent that the taxpayer with respect to whom
the return information relates provides consent
for such disclosure to the Secretary of
Education as part of the application for
Federal student financial aid under title IV of
the Higher Education Act of 1965.
``(D) Required notification periods.--
``(i) Notification to congress.--The
Secretary and the Secretary of Education shall
issue joint notifications to the Committees on
Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions of the Senate and the Committees on
Ways and Means and Education and Labor of the
House of Representatives not less than 120 days
prior to the first disclosure of any type of
return information under subparagraph (A)(vii)
or (B)(xv) with respect to which such a
notification has not been previously made.
``(ii) Public notice and comment.--There
shall be a public notice and comment period
beginning not less than 60 days prior to the
first disclosure of any type of return
information under subparagraph (A)(vii) or
(B)(xv) with respect to which such a
notification has not been previously made,
subsequent to the period allotted for
Congressional comment under clause (i).
``(E) Notification of taxpayers.--The Secretary of
Education may not submit a written request under this
paragraph with respect to any taxpayer unless such
Secretary has advised such taxpayer that such Secretary
has the authority to request that the Internal Revenue
Service disclose under this section the tax return
information of such taxpayer, and of parents and
spouses who sign an application or request or a Master
Promissory Note on behalf of such taxpayer.
``(F) Additional restriction on disclosure to
contractors.--For purposes of this paragraph, the
Secretary shall not consider any contractors to be
specifically authorized and designated by the Secretary
of Education with respect to a disclosure unless the
Secretary of Education finds that no officer or
employee can carry out the purpose for which such
disclosure is requested.''.
(b) Confidentiality of Return Information.--Section 6103(a)(3) of
such Code is amended by inserting ``, (13)(A), (13)(B)'' after
``(12)''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 6103(p)(4) of such Code is
amended--
(1) by inserting ``(A), (13)(B)'' after ``(13)'' each place
it occurs, and
(2) by inserting ``, (13)(A), (13)(B)'' after ``(l)(10)''
each place it occurs.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to disclosures made under section 6103(l)(13) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (as amended by this section) after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. REPORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than each specified date, the Secretary
of Education and the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue joint
reports to the Committees on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and
Finance of the Senate and the Committees on Education and Labor and
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives regarding the amendments
made by section 2.
(b) Specified Date Defined.--For purposes of subsection (a), the
term ``specified date'' means--
(1) the date that is 90 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act,
(2) the date that is 120 days after the first day that the
disclosure process established under section 6103(l)(13) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section 2, is
operational, and
(3) the date that is 1 year after the report date described
in paragraph (2).
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