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Employee Welfare Benefit Equity Act of 2001

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8959-8961)

Official summary

Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Aug 3, 2001

Employee Welfare Benefit Equity Act of 2001 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the limited deductibility of employer contributions to welfare benefit funds, to revise the exception from such treatment for a single plan with ten or more employers. Adds to current requirements for a ten-or-more employer plan that the plan must: (1) meet specified nondiscrimination requirements with respect to all benefits the plan provides; (2) receive a favorable determination from the Secretary of the Treasury that the plan (or a predecessor plan) is a voluntary employees' beneficiary association meeting certain criteria; and (3) provide no severance pay benefit.Defines an experience-related plan, to which such exception does not apply (thus qualifying it for limited deductibility of employer contributions), as a plan which determines contributions by individual employers on the basis of actual gain or loss experience. Excludes from experience-related plans (and so excepts from limited deductibility of employer contributions) guaranteed benefit plans funded with insurance contracts or otherwise determinable and payable to a participant without reference to, or limitation by, the amount of contributions to the plan attributable to any contributing employer.Requires the taxpayer to apply for and receive a determination by the Secretary of the Treasury that a collective bargaining agreement is bona fide and the welfare benefits provided under it were the subject of good faith bargaining before a qualified asset account may be unlimited under an employee pay-all plan.Declares that a welfare benefit fund meeting all applicable requirements shall not be treated as a tax shelter or corporate tax shelter.Prescribes an excise tax equal to 100 percent of all contributions to a funded welfare benefit plan that is terminated prematurely, that is, within six years after the first contribution to the fund which benefits any highly compensated employee.

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Who introduced it

Sen. Santorum, Rick [R-PA] · R–PA

Committees

  • Finance Committee
0 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

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    1. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8959-8961)

    2. Introduced in Senate

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