I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3613

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

of return information for student financial assistance purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2003

Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, and Mr. HOUGHTON) 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 the disclosure of return information for student financial assistance 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 ‘‘Student Aid Stream5 lined Disclosure Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURN INFORMATION FOR 

7 STUDENT AID PURPOSES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (l) of section 6103 of 

9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure 
2

•HR 3613 IH 

1 of returns and return information for purposes other than 

2 tax administration) is amended to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(13) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION

4 FOR STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PURPOSES.—

5 ‘‘(A) FULL DISCLOSURE TO DEPARTMENT

6 OF EDUCATION.—The Secretary may, with re7 spect to a person described in subparagraph 

8 (F)(i) and upon written request from the Sec9 retary of Education, disclose to the officers and 

10 employees of the Department of Education for 

11 the purposes described in subparagraph (E)—

12 ‘‘(i) taxpayer identity information, 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the following items in the case of 

15 a material discrepancy between the infor16 mation reported, directly or indirectly, to 

17 officers, employees, and contractors of the 

18 Department of Education and the fol19 lowing items: 

20 ‘‘(I) The filing status of that tax21 payer. 

22 ‘‘(II) The adjusted gross income 

23 of that taxpayer. 

24 ‘‘(III) The total earnings from 

25 employment (including net earnings 
3

•HR 3613 IH 

1 from self-employment) of that tax2 payer. 

3 ‘‘(IV) The Federal income tax li4 ability of that taxpayer. 

5 ‘‘(V) The type of tax return filed 

6 by that taxpayer. 

7 ‘‘(B) REDISCLOSURE TO CONTRACTORS.—

8 Officers and employees of the Department of 

9 Education may disclose to contractors whether 

10 a material discrepancy between items reported, 

11 directly or indirectly, to an officer, employee, or 

12 contractor of the Department of Education and 

13 any of the items described in subparagraph 

14 (A)(ii) would result in an over or under award 

15 of grants or loans under title IV of the Higher 

16 Education Act of 1965. 

17 ‘‘(C) FACT OF DISCREPANCY REDISCLO18 SURE OF INFORMATION.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub20 paragraphs (D) and (E), officers, employ21 ees, and contractors of the Department of 

22 Education may, with respect to an applica23 tion for assistance under title IV of the 

24 Higher Education Act of 1965, disclose to 

25 persons described in clauses (ii) and (iii)—
4

•HR 3613 IH 

1 ‘‘(I) the fact of a material dis2 crepancy between items reported, di3 rectly or indirectly, to such officers, 

4 employees, or contractors and any of 

5 the items described in subparagraph 

6 (A)(ii), and 

7 ‘‘(II) whether such items as 

8 shown on the return are greater than 

9 or less than such items as reported to 

10 the Department of Education. 

11 ‘‘(ii) APPLICANT.—The person de12 scribed in this clause is the applicant de13 scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of subpara14 graph (F)(i). 

15 ‘‘(iii) OTHER PERSONS.—The persons 

16 described in this clause are—

17 ‘‘(I) individuals whose informa18 tion is discrepant, 

19 ‘‘(II) officers and employees of 

20 institutions of higher education (as 

21 defined in section 102 of the Higher 

22 Education Act of 1965) that admin23 ister, or assist the Secretary of Edu24 cation in administering, a grant, loan, 
5

•HR 3613 IH 

1 benefit, or work assistance program 

2 under title IV of such Act, 

3 ‘‘(III) officers and employees of 

4 State agencies that administer a grant 

5 or work assistance program under 

6 subpart 4 of part A of title IV of such 

7 Act, and 

8 ‘‘(IV) auditors engaged to per9 form audits or reviews required under 

10 section 487(c) of such Act, 

11 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON FULL REDISCLO12 SURES RELATING TO MATERIAL DISCREP13 ANCIES.—Information specific to an individual 

14 which is disclosed by the Secretary under sub15 paragraph (A) may only be redisclosed to the 

16 individual whose information is discrepant and 

17 to the Department of Justice for purposes re18 lating to the collection of overpayments of 

19 grants or loans provided under title IV of the 

20 Higher Education Act of 1965, including by 

21 means of litigation. 

22 ‘‘(E) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED

23 INFORMATION.—

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Information may 

25 be disclosed under subparagraphs (A) 
6

•HR 3613 IH 

1 through (C) only for the purpose of, and to 

2 the extent necessary to—

3 ‘‘(I) verify the information re4 ported by a person described in sub5 paragraph (F)(i) in connection with 

6 any application for grant, loan, ben7 efit or work assistance under title IV 

8 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

9 ‘‘(II) determine income contin10 gent repayment amounts and sched11 ules on an applicable student loan, 

12 ‘‘(III) collect overpayments of 

13 grants or loans provided under title 

14 IV of such Act, including by means of 

15 litigation in the case of the Depart16 ment of Justice, or 

17 ‘‘(IV) audit title IV student as18 sistance programs, as required under 

19 section 487(c) of such Act. 

20 ‘‘(ii) INFORMATION LIMITED TO TAX

21 YEARS REQUIRED.—Information disclosed 

22 under this paragraph shall be limited to 

23 the tax years required, in accordance with 

24 such Act and implementing regulations, to 
7

•HR 3613 IH 

1 carry out the purposes described in this 

2 paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—

4 For purposes of this paragraph—

5 ‘‘(i) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person 

6 is described in this clause if the person—

7 ‘‘(I) has applied for grant, loan, 

8 benefit, or work assistance under title 

9 IV of the Higher Education Act of 

10 1965, 

11 ‘‘(II) is seeking income contin12 gent repayment on an applicable stu13 dent loan, 

14 ‘‘(III) in the case of an individual 

15 who is a dependent student and who 

16 has applied for the assistance de17 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II), is 

18 the parent (as defined for purposes of 

19 title IV of such Act) of such indi20 vidual, or 

21 ‘‘(IV) in the case of an individual 

22 who is an independent student and 

23 who has applied for the assistance de24 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II), is 

25 the spouse of such individual. 
8

•HR 3613 IH 

1 ‘‘(ii) MATERIAL DISCREPANCY.—The 

2 term ‘material discrepancy’ means, with re3 spect to similar items in 2 sets of informa4 tion—

5 ‘‘(I) a difference between such 

6 sets of not less than the greater of 

7 $100 or one percent of the item 

8 shown on the return in the case of 

9 items described in subclause (II), 

10 (III), or (IV) of subparagraph (A)(ii), 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) any difference between such 

13 sets of information in the case of 

14 items described in subclause (I) or (V) 

15 of subparagraph (A)(ii). 

16 ‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE STUDENT LOAN.—

17 The term ‘applicable student loan’ 

18 means—

19 ‘‘(I) any loan made under the 

20 program authorized under part D of 

21 title IV of such Act, and 

22 ‘‘(II) any loan made under part 

23 B or E of title IV of such Act that is 

24 in default and has been assigned to 

25 the Department of Education. 
9

•HR 3613 IH 

1 ‘‘(iv) EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY.—For 

2 purposes of subsection (a), subsection (c) 

3 shall not be construed to be an authoriza4 tion for any disclosure covered by this 

5 paragraph. 

6 ‘‘(v) FUNDING.—Information may be 

7 disclosed under this paragraph only if 

8 there is in effect an agreement between the 

9 Secretary and the Secretary of Education 

10 under which the Secretary of Education 

11 makes periodic payments to the Sec12 retary—

13 ‘‘(I) to reimburse the Secretary 

14 for costs incurred in carrying out this 

15 paragraph, and 

16 ‘‘(II) to cover the cost to the Sec17 retary of monitoring compliance with 

18 this section by the Secretary of Edu19 cation in carrying out this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(vi) REFERENCES TO HIGHER EDU21 CATION ACT OF 1965.—For purposes of 

22 this paragraph, references to the Higher 

23 Education Act of 1965 shall be treated as 

24 references to the Higher Education Act of 
10

•HR 3613 IH 

1 1965 as in effect on the date of the enact2 ment of this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(G) TERMINATION.—This paragraph 

4 shall not apply to requests for disclosures made 

5 after September 30, 2008.’’. 

6 (b) CONFORMING AND OTHER AMENDMENTS.—

7 (1) Section 6103(a)(3) of such Code is amended 

8 by striking ‘‘paragraph (6), (12), or (16) of sub9 section (l),’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (6), (12), 

10 (13), or (16) of subsection (l),’’. 

11 (2) Section 6103(p) of such Code is amended—

12 (A) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking 

13 ‘‘(13)’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘para15 graph (6)(A), (12)(B), or (16) of subsection 

16 (l)’’ in the flush language at the end and insert17 ing ‘‘paragraph (6)(A), (12)(B), (13), or (16) 

18 of subsection (l)’’. 

19 (3) Section 7213(a)(2) of such Code is amended 

20 by inserting ‘‘(13),’’ after ‘‘(12),’’. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall apply to requests for disclosures made 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

Æ