I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4795 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for employer 

contributions to ABLE accounts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 22, 2019 

Ms. SLOTKIN (for herself and Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania) 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 provide 

for employer contributions to ABLE accounts, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Saving To Achieve a 

5 Better Life Experience Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘STABLE 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS TO ABLE ACCOUNTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 106 of the Internal Rev9 enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 

10 following new subsection: 


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1 ‘‘(h) CONTRIBUTIONS TO ABLE ACCOUNTS.—Any 

2 amounts contributed by an employee’s employer to any 

3 ABLE account (as defined in section 529A) designated 

4 by the employee, and of which the employee is not a bene5 ficiary, shall be treated as employer-provided coverage for 

6 medical expenses under an accident or health plan to the 

7 extent such amounts do not exceed the lesser of— 

8 ‘‘(1) the amount such employee contributed 

9 during the taxable year to such ABLE account (as 

10 so defined), or 

‘‘(2) an amount equal to 1 11 ⁄2 the amount in ef12 fect under section 529A(b)(2)(B)(I).’’. 

13 (b) FAILURE OF EMPLOYER TO MAKE COMPARABLE

14 ABLE ACCOUNT CONTRIBUTIONS.—Chapter 43 of such 

15 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

16 section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 4980J. FAILURE OF EMPLOYER TO MAKE COM18 PARABLE ABLE ACCOUNT CONTRIBUTIONS. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an employer who 

20 on behalf of an employee makes a contribution to which 

21 section 106(h) applies to an ABLE account (as defined 

22 in section 529A), there is hereby imposed a tax on the 

23 failure of such employer to meet the requirements of sub24 section (b) for such calendar year. 


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1 ‘‘(b) RULES AND REQUIREMENTS.—Rules and re2 quirements similar to the rules and requirements of sec3 tion 4980E shall apply for purposes of this section. 

4 ‘‘(c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue regu5 lations to carry out the purposes of this section.’’. 

6 (c) EXCLUSION FROM EMPLOYMENT TAXES.— 

7 (1) RAILROAD RETIREMENT TAX.—Section 

8 3231(e) of such Code is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(13) ABLE ACCOUNT CONTRIBUTIONS.—The 

11 term ‘compensation’ shall not include any payment 

12 made on behalf of an employee if at the time of such 

13 payment it is reasonable to believe that the employee 

14 will be able to exclude such payment from income 

15 under section 106(h).’’. 

16 (2) UNEMPLOYMENT TAX.—Section 3306(b) of 

17 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end 

18 of paragraph (19), by striking the period at the end 

19 of paragraph (20) and inserting ‘‘; or’’, and by in20 serting after paragraph (20) the following new para21 graph: 

22 ‘‘(21) any payment made on behalf of an em23 ployee if at the time of such payment it is reason24 able to believe that the employee will be able to exVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:38 Oct 30, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4795.IH H4795

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1 clude such payment from income under section 

2 106(h).’’. 

3 (3) WITHHOLDING TAX.—Section 3401(a) of 

4 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end 

5 of paragraph (22), by striking the period at the end 

6 of paragraph (23) and inserting ‘‘; or’’, and by in7 serting after paragraph (23) the following new para8 graph: 

9 ‘‘(24) any payment made on behalf of an em10 ployee if at the time of such payment it is reason11 able to believe that the employee will be able to ex12 clude such payment from income under section 

13 106(h).’’. 

14 (4) EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS REQUIRED TO

15 BE SHOWN ON W–2.—Section 6051(a) of such Code 

16 is amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of para17 graph (11), by striking the period at the end of 

18 paragraph (12) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and by insert19 ing after paragraph (12) the following new para20 graph: 

21 ‘‘(13) the amount contributed to any ABLE ac22 count (as defined in section 529A) on behalf of such 

23 employee.’’. 

24 (d) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Secretary 

25 of the Treasury shall prescribe such regulations and other 


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1 guidance as are necessary to carry out the purposes of 

2 the amendments made by this Act, including verification 

3 by the employer of amounts an employee contributes dur4 ing the taxable year to an ABLE account (as defined in 

5 section 529A of such Code). 

6 (e) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

7 for chapter 43 of such Code is amended by adding at the 

8 end the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 4980J. Failure of employer to make comparable ABLE account contributions.’’. 

9 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

11 December 31, 2019. 

Æ 


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