II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1507 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify the treatment of 

general welfare benefits provided by Indian tribes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 

Mr. MORAN (for himself and Ms. HEITKAMP) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to clarify 

the treatment of general welfare benefits provided by 

Indian tribes. 

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 ‘‘Tribal General Welfare 

5 Exclusion Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INDIAN GENERAL WELFARE BENEFITS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap8 ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

9 by inserting before section 140 the following new section: 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1507 IS

1 ‘‘SEC. 139E. INDIAN GENERAL WELFARE BENEFITS. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Gross income does not include 

3 the value of any Indian general welfare benefit. 

4 ‘‘(b) INDIAN GENERAL WELFARE BENEFIT.—For 

5 purposes of this section, the term ‘Indian general welfare 

6 benefit’ includes any payment made or services provided 

7 to or on behalf of a member of an Indian tribe (or any 

8 spouse or dependent of such a member) pursuant to an 

9 Indian tribal government program, but only if— 

10 ‘‘(1) the program is administered under speci11 fied guidelines and does not discriminate in favor of 

12 members of the governing body of the tribe, and 

13 ‘‘(2) the benefits provided under such pro14 gram— 

15 ‘‘(A) are available to any tribal member 

16 who meets such guidelines, 

17 ‘‘(B) are for the promotion of general wel18 fare, 

19 ‘‘(C) are not lavish or extravagant, and 

20 ‘‘(D) are not compensation for services. 

21 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur22 poses of this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—For pur24 poses of this section, the term ‘Indian tribal govern25 ment’ includes any agencies or instrumentalities of 

26 an Indian tribal government and any Alaska Native 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1507 IS

1 regional or village corporation, as defined in, or es2 tablished pursuant to, the Alaska Native Claims Set3 tlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.). 

4 ‘‘(2) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘dependent’ has 

5 the meaning given such term by section 152, deter6 mined without regard to subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), 

7 and (d)(1)(B). 

8 ‘‘(3) LAVISH OR EXTRAVAGANT.—The Sec9 retary shall, in consultation with the Tribal Advisory 

10 Committee (as established under section 3(a) of the 

11 Tribal General Welfare Exclusion Act of 2013), es12 tablish guidelines for what constitutes lavish or ex13 travagant benefits with respect to Indian tribal gov14 ernment programs. 

15 ‘‘(4) ESTABLISHMENT OF TRIBAL GOVERNMENT

16 PROGRAM.—A program shall not fail to be treated as 

17 an Indian tribal government program solely by rea18 son of the program being established by tribal cus19 tom or government practice. 

20 ‘‘(5) CEREMONIAL ACTIVITIES.—Any items of 

21 cultural significance, reimbursement of costs, or 

22 cash honorarium for participation in cultural or cer23 emonial activities for the transmission of tribal cul24 ture shall not be treated as compensation for serv25 ices.’’. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1507 IS

1 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of such 

3 Code is amended by inserting before the item relating to 

4 section 140 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 139E. Indian general welfare benefits.’’. 

5 (c) STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.—Ambiguities in 

6 section 139E of such Code, as added by this Act, shall 

7 be resolved in favor of Indian tribal governments and def8 erence shall be given to Indian tribal governments for the 

9 programs administered and authorized by the tribe to ben10 efit the general welfare of the tribal community. 

11 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

13 this section shall apply to taxable years for which 

14 the period of limitation on refund or credit under 

15 section 6511 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

16 has not expired. 

17 (2) ONE-YEAR WAIVER OF STATUTE OF LIMITA18 TIONS.—If the period of limitation on a credit or re19 fund resulting from the amendments made by sub20 section (a) expires before the end of the 1-year pe21 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

22 Act, refund or credit of such overpayment (to the ex23 tent attributable to such amendments) may, never24 theless, be made or allowed if claim therefor is filed 

25 before the close of such 1-year period. 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1507 IS

1 SEC. 3. TRIBAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas3 ury shall establish a Tribal Advisory Committee (herein4 after in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Committee’’). 

5 (b) DUTIES.— 

6 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Committee shall 

7 advise the Secretary on matters relating to the tax8 ation of Indians. 

9 (2) EDUCATION AND TRAINING.—The Secretary 

10 shall, in consultation with the Committee, establish 

11 and require— 

12 (A) training and education for internal rev13 enue field agents who administer and enforce 

14 internal revenue laws with respect to Indian 

15 tribes on Federal Indian law and the Federal 

16 Government’s unique legal treaty and trust re17 lationship with Indian tribal governments, and 

18 (B) training of such internal revenue field 

19 agents, and provision of training and technical 

20 assistance to tribal financial officers, about im21 plementation of this Act and the amendments 

22 made thereby. 

23 (c) MEMBERSHIP.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be 

25 composed of 7 members appointed as follows: 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1507 IS

1 (A) Three members appointed by the Sec2 retary of the Treasury. 

3 (B) One member appointed by the Chair4 man, and one member appointed by the Rank5 ing Member, of the Committee on Ways and 

6 Means of the House of Representatives. 

7 (C) One member appointed by the Chair8 man, and one member appointed by the Rank9 ing Member, of the Committee on Finance of 

10 the Senate. 

11 (2) TERM.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

13 subparagraph (B), each member’s term shall be 

14 4 years. 

15 (B) INITIAL STAGGERING.—The first ap16 pointments made by the Secretary under para17 graph (1)(A) shall be for a term of 2 years. 

18 SEC. 4. OTHER RELIEF FOR INDIAN TRIBES. 

19 (a) TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF EXAMINATIONS.— 

20 The Secretary of the Treasury shall suspend all audits and 

21 examinations of Indian tribal governments and members 

22 of Indian tribes (or any spouse or dependent of such a 

23 member), to the extent such an audit or examination re24 lates to the exclusion of a payment or benefit from an In25 dian tribal government under the general welfare excluVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:34 Sep 18, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1507.IS S1507

smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1507 IS

1 sion, until the education and training prescribed by section 

2 3(b)(2) of this Act is completed. The running of any pe3 riod of limitations under section 6501 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 with respect to Indian tribal govern5 ments and members of Indian tribes shall be suspended 

6 during the period during which audits and examinations 

7 are suspended under the preceding sentence. 

8 (b) WAIVER OF PENALTIES AND INTEREST.—The 

9 Secretary of the Treasury may waive any interest and pen10 alties imposed under such Code on any Indian tribal gov11 ernment or member of an Indian tribe (or any spouse or 

12 dependent of such a member) to the extent such interest 

13 and penalties relate to excluding a payment or benefit 

14 from gross income under the general welfare exclusion. 

15 (c) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this subsection— 

16 (1) INDIAN TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term 

17 ‘‘Indian tribal government’’ shall have the meaning 

18 given such term by section 139E of such Code, as 

19 added by this Act. 

20 (2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 

21 shall have the meaning given such term by section 

22 45A(c)(6) of such Code. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with BILLS