[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8314 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8314

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish that employers 
 may offer employees a choice among tax-favored employer contributions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 15, 2026

Mr. Steube (for himself and Ms. DelBene) 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 establish that employers 
 may offer employees a choice among tax-favored employer contributions.

    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 ``Optimizing Participant Tax 
Incentives through Optional Noncash Selections Act'' or the ``OPTIONS 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN EMPLOYER-PROVIDED BENEFITS UNDER A 
              QUALIFIED BENEFIT OPTIONS PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after section 125 
the following new section:

``SEC. 125A. QUALIFIED BENEFIT OPTIONS PLANS.

    ``(a) In General.--Except as provided in subsection (c), no amount 
shall be included in the gross income of a participant in a qualified 
benefit options plan solely because, under the plan, the participant 
may choose among the benefits of the plan.
    ``(b) Qualified Benefit Options Plan.--For purposes of this 
section--
            ``(1) In general.--The term `qualified benefit options 
        plan' means a written plan or arrangement offered by an 
        employer to employees and former employees (including retired 
        employees) of the employer, under which participants--
                    ``(A) may elect to allocate employer contributions 
                among qualified benefits, and
                    ``(B) may not elect to receive cash or any other 
                taxable benefit instead of qualified benefits.
            ``(2) Qualified benefits.--The term `qualified benefits' 
        includes--
                    ``(A) non-elective employer contributions which are 
                excluded from gross income under section 402 or 403,
                    ``(B) contributions to a health reimbursement 
                arrangement or health savings account which are 
                excluded from gross income under section 105 or 106,
                    ``(C) amounts paid by an employer pursuant to a 
                qualified educational assistance program which are 
                excluded from gross income under section 127, and
                    ``(D) other benefits which are excluded from gross 
                income under any other provision of this chapter.
    ``(c) Exception for Highly Compensated Participants and Key 
Employees, etc.--Rules similar to the rules of subsections (b), (c), 
(e), and (g) of section 125 shall apply for purposes of this section.
    ``(d) Application of Nondiscrimination Rules.--For purposes of 
applying the requirements of sections 401(a)(4) and 416, in the case of 
any qualified plan described in section 401(a) that is included as a 
qualified benefit under this section, the amount of any employer 
contribution made available to a participant shall be treated as an 
employer contribution made to such plan, without regard to whether the 
participant elects to have any portion of such amount contributed to 
such plan.
    ``(e) Cross-Reference.--For reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, see section 6039D.''.
    (b) Reporting and Recordkeeping.--Subsection (d) of section 6039D 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) by inserting ``, 125A'' after ``125'' in paragraph (1), 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end of paragraph (2) the following: 
        ``In the case of a qualified benefit options plan under section 
        125A, such term means, with respect to such plan, the section 
        under which each qualified benefit (as defined in section 
        125A(b)(2)) included in the plan is excludable from gross 
        income.''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for part III of 
subchapter B of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 125 the 
following new item:

``Sec. 125A. Qualified benefit options plans.''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
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