Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S8959-8961)
Congressional Research Service
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.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 19, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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