,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #cie ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,january #bc1 #bjac ,mr4 ,israel 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,king of ,new ,york1 ,ms4 ,norton1 ,mr4 ,hanna1 and ,mr4 ,cicilline7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on ,ways and ,means ,a ,,bill ,to amend the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf to exclude from gross income amounts paid by an employer on an employee's student loans4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,student ,loan ,employment ,benefits ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,student loan payment assistance programs 7a7 ,in general ,part ,,iii of subchapter ,b of chapter #a of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf is amended by inserting after section #abg the following new section3 #abg;,a4 ,student loan payment assistance programs 7a7 ,in general ,gross income of an employee does not include amounts paid or incurred by the employer for student loan payment assistance provided to such employee if the assistance is furnished pursuant to a program which is described in subsection 7c74 7b7 ,limitations 7#a7 ,assistance limitation ,the amount taken into account under subsection 7a7 with respect to an individual for student loan assistance with respect to student loan payments during a taxable year shall not exceed #e1jjj4 7#b7 ,earned income limitation ,the amount excluded from the income of an employee under subsection 7a7 for any taxable year shall not exceed the earned income of such employee for such taxable year4 7c7 ,student loan payment assistance program 7#a7 ,in general ,for purposes of this section a student loan payment assistance program is a separate written plan of an employer for the exclusive benefit of his employees to provide such employees with student loan payment assistance which meets the requirements of paragraphs 7#b7 through 7#i7 of this subsection4 ,if any plan would qualify as a student loan payment assistance program but for a failure to meet the requirements of this subsection1 then1 notwithstanding such failure1 such plan shall be treated as a student loan payment assistance program in the case of employees who are not highly compensated employees4 7#b7 ,discrimination ,the contributions or benefits provided under the plan shall not discriminate in favor of employees who are highly compensated employees 7within the meaning of section #dad7q774 7#c7 ,eligibility ,the program shall benefit employees who qualify under a classification set up by the employer and found by the ,secretary not to be discriminatory in favor of employees described in paragraph 7#b74 7#d7 ,principal shareholders or owners ,not more than #be percent of the amounts paid or incurred by the employer for student loan payment assistance during the year may be provided for the class of individuals who are shareholders or owners 7or their spouses or dependents71 each of whom 7on any day of the year7 owns more than #e percent of the stock or of the capital or profits interest in the employer4 7#e7 ,no funding required ,a program referred to in paragraph 7#a7 is not required to be funded4 7#f7 ,notification of eligible employees ,reasonable notification of the availability and terms of the program shall be provided to eligible employees4 7#g7 ,statement of expenses ,the plan shall furnish to an employee1 on or before ,january #ca1 a written statement showing the amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer in providing student loan payment assistance to such employee during the previous calendar year4 7#h7 ,benefits 7,a7 ,in general ,a plan meets the requirements of this paragraph if the average benefits provided to employees who are not highly compensated employees under all plans of the employer is at least #ee percent of the average benefits provided to highly compensated employees under all plans of the employer4 7,b7 ,salary reduction agreements ,for purposes of subparagraph 7,a71 in the case of any benefits provided through a salary reduction agreement1 a plan may disregard any employees whose compensation is less than #be1jjj4 ,for purposes of this subparagraph1 the term compensation has the meaning given such term by section #dad7q77#d71 except that1 under rules prescribed by the ,secretary1 an employer may elect to determine compensation on any other basis which does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees4 7#i7 ,excluded employees ,for purposes of paragraphs 7#c7 and 7#h71 there shall be excluded from consideration-- 7,a7 subject to rules similar to the rules of section #daj7;b77#d71 employees who have not attained the age of #ba and completed #a year of service 7as defined in section #daj7;a77#c771 and 7,b7 employees not included in a student loan payment assistance program who are included in a unit of employees covered by an agreement which the ,secretary finds to be a collective bargaining agreement between employee representatives and #a or more employees1 if there is evidence that student loan payment benefits were the subject of good faith bargaining between such employee representatives and such employer or employers4 7d7 ,definitions and special rules ,for purposes of this section-- 7#a7 ,student loan payment assistance 7,a7 ,in general ,the term student loan payment assistance means the payment of principal or interest on-- 7i7 any indebtedness incurred by the employee solely to pay qualified higher education expenses 7as defined in section #bba7 which-- 7,i7 are paid or incurred within a reasonable period of time before or after the indebtedness was incurred1 and 7,,ii7 are attributable to education furnished during a period during which the employee was an eligible student1 or 7ii7 any indebtedness used to refinance indebtedness described in clause 7i74 ,such term shall not include any payment of principal or interest on indebtedness owed to a person who is related 7within the meaning of section #bfg7;b7 or #gjg7;b77#a77 to the taxpayer or to any person by reason of a loan under any qualified employer plan 7as defined in section #gb7p77#d77 or under any contract referred to in section #gb7p77#e74 7,b7 ,eligible student ,the term eligible student has the meaning given such term by section #be;,a7b77#c74 7,c7 ,dependent ,the term dependent has the meaning given such term by section #aeb 7determined without regard to subsections 7b77#a71 7b77#b71 and 7d77#a77;,b7 thereof74 7#b7 ,earned income ,the term earned income shall have the meaning given such term in section #cb7;c77#b71 but such term shall not include any amounts paid or incurred by an employer for student loan payment assistance to an employee4 7#c7 ,employee ,the term employee includes1 for any year1 an individual who is an employee within the meaning of section #dja7;c77#a7 7relating to self-employed individuals74 7#d7 ,employer ,an individual who owns the entire interest in an unincorporated trade or business shall be treated as his own employer4 ,a partnership shall be treated as the employer of each partner who is an employee within the meaning of paragraph 7#c74 7#e7 ,attribution rules 7,a7 ,ownership of stock ,ownership of stock in a corporation shall be determined in accordance with the rules provided under subsections 7d7 and 7e7 of section #aefc 7without regard to section #aefc7;e77#c77;,c774 7,b7 ,interest in unincorporated trade or business ,the interest of an employee in a trade or business which is not incorporated shall be determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the ,secretary1 which shall be based on principles similar to the principles which apply in the case of subparagraph 7,a74 7#f7 ,utilization test not applicable ,a student loan payment assistance program shall not be held or considered to fail to meet any requirements of subsection 7c7 7other than paragraphs 7#d7 and 7#h7 thereof7 merely because of utilization rates for the different types of assistance made available under the program4 7#g7 ,disallowance of excluded amounts as credit or deduction ,no deduction or credit shall be allowed to the employee under any other section of this chapter for any amount excluded from the gross income of the employee by reason of this section4 4 7b7 ,conforming amendments ,sections #bba7;d77#b77;,a71 #dad7n77#c77;,c7 and 7t77#b71 #caba7;a77#ah71 #ccjf7;b77#ac71 #cdja7;a77#ah71 and #fjci;,d7d77#a7 of such ,code are each amended by inserting #abg;,a1 after #abg14 7c7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of sections for part ,,iii of subchapter ,b of chapter #a of such ,code is amended by inserting after the item relating to section #abg the following new item3 ,sec4 #abg;,a4 ,student loan payment assistance programs4 4 7d7 ,effective date ,the amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after the date of the enactment of this ,act4