II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2190

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Social Security Act

to require the Internal Revenue Service to collect child support through

wage withholding and to eliminate State enforcement of child support

obligations other than medical support obligations.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 3, 1996

Mr. KERRY 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 and the Social

Security Act to require the Internal Revenue Service

to collect child support through wage withholding and

to eliminate State enforcement of child support obligations other than medical support obligations.

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 ‘‘Uniform Child Support

5 Enforcement Act of 1996’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE; AMENDMENTS.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—This Act and the amendments

3 made by this Act shall take effect on the 1st day of the

4 1st calendar month that begins after the 3-year period

5 that begins with the date of the enactment of this Act,

6 if the Secretary of Health and Human Services certifies

7 to the Congress that on such 1st day more than 50 percent

8 of the States have not achieved a 75 percent collection

9 rate in child support cases in which child support is

10 awarded and due under the jurisdiction of such States

11 pursuant to part D of title IV of the Social Security Act.

12 (b) ELIMINATION OF PROVISIONS OF LAW RELATING

13 TO STATE ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGA14 TIONS OTHER THAN MEDICAL SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS.—

15 Not later than 90 days after the effective date of this Act

16 and the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary of

17 Health and Human Services shall submit to the appro18 priate committees of the Congress a legislative proposal

19 proposing such technical and conforming amendments as

20 are necessary to eliminate State enforcement of child sup21 port obligations other than medical support obligations

22 and to bring the law into conformity with the policy em23 bodied in this Act.

24 SEC. 3. NATIONAL CHILD SUPPORT ORDER REGISTRY.

25 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas2 ury shall establish in the Internal Revenue Service

3 a national registry of abstracts of child support or4 ders.

5 (2) CHILD SUPPORT ORDER DEFINED.—As

6 used in this section, the term ‘‘child support order’’

7 means an order, issued or modified by a State court

8 or an administrative process established under State

9 law, that requires an individual to make payments

10 for support and maintenance of a child or of a child

11 and the parent with whom the child is living.

12 (b) CONTENTS OF ABSTRACTS.—The abstract of a

13 child support order shall contain the following informa14 tion:

15 (1) The names, addresses, and social security

16 account numbers of each individual with rights or

17 obligations under the order, to the extent that the

18 authority that issued the order has not prohibited

19 the release of such information.

20 (2) The name and date of birth of any child

21 with respect to whom payments are to be made

22 under the order.

23 (3) The dollar amount of child support required

24 to be paid on a monthly basis under the order.
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1 (4) The date the order was issued or most re2 cently modified, and each date the order is required

3 or scheduled to be reviewed by a court or an admin4 istrative process established under State law.

5 (5) Any orders superseded by the order.

6 (6) Such other information as the Secretary of

7 the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of

8 Health and Human Services, shall, by regulation re9 quire.

10 SEC. 4. CERTAIN STATUTORILY PRESCRIBED PROCEDURES

11 REQUIRED AS A CONDITION OF RECEIVING

12 FEDERAL CHILD SUPPORT FUNDS.

13 Section 466(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.

14 666(a)), as amended by section 382 of the Personal Re15 sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of

16 1996, is amended by inserting after paragraph (19) the

17 following:

18 ‘‘(20)(A) Procedures which require any State

19 court or administrative agency that issues or modi20 fies (or has issued or modified) a child support order

21 to transmit an abstract of the order to the Internal

22 Revenue Service on the later of—

23 ‘‘(i) the date the order is issued or modi24 fied; or

25 ‘‘(ii) the effective date of this paragraph.
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1 ‘‘(B) Procedures which—

2 ‘‘(i) require any individual with the right

3 to collect child support pursuant to an order is4 sued or modified in the State (whether before

5 or after the effective date of this paragraph) to

6 be presumed to have assigned to the Internal

7 Revenue Service the right to collect such sup8 port, unless the individual affirmatively elects to

9 retain such right at any time; and

10 ‘‘(ii) allow any individual who has made

11 the election referred to in clause (i) to rescind

12 or revive such election at any time.’’.

13 SEC. 5. COLLECTION OF CHILD SUPPORT BY INTERNAL

14 REVENUE SERVICE.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal Reve16 nue Code of 1986 (relating to miscellaneous provisions),

17 as amended by section 1204(a) of the Taxpayer Bill of

18 Rights 2, is amended by adding at the end the following

19 new section:

20 ‘‘SEC. 7525. COLLECTION OF CHILD SUPPORT.

21 ‘‘(a) EMPLOYEE TO NOTIFY EMPLOYER OF CHILD

22 SUPPORT OBLIGATION.—

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each employee shall speci24 fy, on each withholding certificate furnished to such

25 employee’s employer—
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1 ‘‘(A) the monthly amount (if any) of each

2 child support obligation of such employee, and

3 ‘‘(B) the TIN of the individual to whom

4 each such obligation is owed.

5 ‘‘(2) WHEN CERTIFICATE FILED.—In addition

6 to the other required times for filing a withholding

7 certificate, a new withholding certificate shall be

8 filed within 30 days after the date of any change in

9 the information specified under paragraph (1).

10 ‘‘(3) PERIOD CERTIFICATE IN EFFECT.—Any

11 specification under paragraph (1) shall continue in

12 effect until another withholding certificate takes ef13 fect which specifies a change in the information

14 specified under paragraph (1).

15 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO SPECIFY SMALLER CHILD

16 SUPPORT AMOUNT.—In the case of an employee who

17 is employed by more than 1 employer for any period,

18 such employee may specify less than the monthly

19 amount described in paragraph (1)(A) to each such

20 employer so long as the total of the amounts speci21 fied to all such employers is not less than such

22 monthly amount.

23 ‘‘(b) CERTAIN OBLIGATIONS EXEMPT.—This section

24 shall not apply to a child support obligation for any month

25 if the individual to whom such obligation is owed has so
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1 notified the Secretary and the individual owing such obli2 gation more than 30 business days before the beginning

3 of such month.

4 ‘‘(c) EMPLOYER OBLIGATIONS.—

5 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT TO DEDUCT AND WITH6 HOLD.—

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Every employer who

8 receives a certificate under subsection (a) that

9 specifies that the employee has a child support

10 obligation for any month shall deduct and with11 hold from the wages (as defined in section

12 3401(a)) paid by such employer to such em13 ployee during each month that such certificate

14 is in effect an additional amount equal to the

15 amount of such obligation or such other amount

16 as may be specified by the Secretary under sub17 section (d).

18 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON AGGREGATE WITH19 HOLDING.—In no event shall an employer de20 duct and withhold under this section from a

21 payment of wages an amount in excess of the

22 amount of such payment which would be per23 mitted to be garnished under section 303(b) of

24 the Consumer Credit Protection Act.

25 ‘‘(2) NOTICE TO SECRETARY.—
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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Every employer who

2 receives a withholding certificate shall, within

3 30 business days after such receipt, submit a

4 copy of such certificate to the Secretary.

5 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A)

6 shall not apply to any withholding certificate

7 if—

8 ‘‘(i) a previous withholding certificate

9 is in effect with the employer, and

10 ‘‘(ii) the information shown on the

11 new certificate with respect to child sup12 port is the same as the information with

13 respect to child support shown on the cer14 tificate in effect.

15 ‘‘(3) WHEN WITHHOLDING OBLIGATION TAKES

16 EFFECT.—Any withholding obligation with respect

17 to a child support obligation of an employee shall

18 commence with the first payment of wages after the

19 certificate is furnished.

20 ‘‘(d) SECRETARY TO VERIFY AMOUNT OF CHILD

21 SUPPORT OBLIGATION.—

22 ‘‘(1) VERIFICATION OF INFORMATION SPECI23 FIED ON WITHHOLDING CERTIFICATES.—Within 45

24 business days after receiving a withholding certifi25 cate of any employee, or a notice from any person
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1 claiming that an employee is delinquent in making

2 any payment pursuant to a child support obligation,

3 the Secretary shall determine whether the informa4 tion available to the Secretary under section 3 of the

5 Uniform Child Support Enforcement Act of 1996 in6 dicates that such employee has a child support obli7 gation.

8 ‘‘(2) EMPLOYER NOTIFIED IF INCREASED

9 WITHHOLDING IS REQUIRED.—If the Secretary de10 termines that an employee’s child support obligation

11 is greater than the amount (if any) shown on the

12 withholding certificate in effect with respect to such

13 employee, the Secretary shall, within 45 business

14 days after such determination, notify the employer

15 to whom such certificate was furnished of the cor16 rect amount of such obligation, and such amount

17 shall apply in lieu of the amount (if any) specified

18 by the employee with respect to payments of wages

19 by the employer after the date the employer receives

20 such notice.

21 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION OF CORRECT AMOUNT.—

22 In making the determination under paragraph (2),

23 the Secretary shall take into account whether the

24 employee is an employee of more than 1 employer
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1 and shall appropriately adjust the amount of the re2 quired withholding from each such employer.

3 ‘‘(e) CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS REQUIRED TO

4 BE PAID WITH INCOME TAX RETURN.—

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The child support obliga6 tion of any individual for months ending with or

7 within any taxable year shall be paid—

8 ‘‘(A) not later than the last date (deter9 mined without regard to extensions) prescribed

10 for filing his return of tax imposed by chapter

11 1 for such taxable year, and

12 ‘‘(B)(i) if such return is filed not later

13 than such date, with such return, or

14 ‘‘(ii) in any case not described in clause (i),

15 in such manner as the Secretary may by regula16 tions prescribe.

17 ‘‘(2) CREDIT FOR AMOUNT PREVIOUSLY

18 PAID.—The amount required to be paid by an indi19 vidual under paragraph (1) shall be reduced by the

20 sum of—

21 ‘‘(A) the amount collected under this sec22 tion with respect to periods during the taxable

23 year, plus
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1 ‘‘(B) the amount (if any) paid by such in2 dividual under section 6654 by reason of sub3 section (f)(3) thereof for such taxable year.

4 ‘‘(f) FAILURE TO PAY AMOUNT OWING.—If an indi5 vidual fails to pay the full amount required to be paid

6 under subsection (e) on or before due date for such pay7 ment, the Secretary shall assess and collect the unpaid

8 amount in the same manner, with the same powers, and

9 subject to the same limitations applicable to a tax imposed

10 by subtitle C the collection of which would be jeopardized

11 by delay.

12 ‘‘(g) CREDIT OR REFUND FOR WITHHELD CHILD

13 SUPPORT IN EXCESS OF ACTUAL OBLIGATION.—There

14 shall be allowed as a credit against the taxes imposed by

15 subtitle A for the taxable year an amount equal to the

16 excess (if any) of—

17 ‘‘(1) the aggregate of the amounts described in

18 subparagraphs (A) and (B) of subsection (e)(2),

19 over

20 ‘‘(2) the actual child support obligation of the

21 taxpayer for such taxable year.

22 The credit allowed by this subsection shall be treated for

23 purposes of this title as allowed by subpart C of part IV

24 of subchapter A of chapter 1.

25 ‘‘(h) CHILD SUPPORT TREATED AS TAXES.—
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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of penalties

2 and interest related to failure to deduct and with3 hold taxes, amounts required to be deducted and

4 withheld under this section shall be treated as taxes

5 imposed by chapter 24.

6 ‘‘(2) OTHER RULES.—Rules similar to the rules

7 of sections 3403, 3404, 3501, 3502, 3504, and 3505

8 shall apply with respect to child support obligations

9 required to be deducted and withheld.

10 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR COLLECTIONS.—For

11 purposes of collecting any unpaid amount which is

12 required to be paid under this section—

13 ‘‘(A) paragraphs (4), (6), and (8) of sec14 tion 6334(a) (relating to property exempt from

15 levy) shall not apply, and

16 ‘‘(B) there shall be exempt from levy so

17 much of the salary, wages, or other income of

18 an individual as is being withheld therefrom in

19 garnishment pursuant to a judgment entered by

20 a court of competent jurisdiction for the sup21 port of his minor children.

22 ‘‘(i) COLLECTIONS DISPERSED TO INDIVIDUAL

23 OWED OBLIGATION.—

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Payments received by the

25 Secretary pursuant to this section or by reason of
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1 section 6654(f)(3) which are attributable to a child

2 support obligation payable for any month shall be

3 paid (to the extent such payments do not exceed the

4 amount of such obligation for such month) to the in5 dividual to whom such obligation is owed as quickly

6 as possible. Any penalties and interest collected with

7 respect to such payments also shall be paid to such

8 individual.

9 ‘‘(2) SHORTFALLS IN PAYMENTS MADE BY

10 OTHER WITHHELD AMOUNTS.—If the amount pay11 able under a child support obligation for any month

12 exceeds the payments (referred in paragraph (1)) re13 ceived with respect to such obligation for such

14 month, such excess shall be paid from other amounts

15 received under subtitle C or section 6654 with re16 spect to the individual owing such obligation. The

17 treasury of the United States shall be reimbursed

18 for such other amounts from collections from the in19 dividual owing such obligation.

20 ‘‘(3) FAMILIES RECEIVING STATE ASSIST21 ANCE.—In the case of an individual with respect to

22 whom an assignment of child support payments to

23 a State is in effect—

24 ‘‘(A) of the amounts collected which rep25 resent monthly support payments, the first $50
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1 of any payments for a month shall be paid to

2 such individual and shall not be considered as

3 income for purposes of calculating amounts of

4 State assistance, and

5 ‘‘(B) all other amounts shall be paid to

6 such State pursuant to such assignment.

7 ‘‘(j) TREATMENT OF ARREARAGES UNDER CHILD

8 SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS NOT SUBJECT TO SECTION FOR

9 PRIOR PERIOD.—If—

10 ‘‘(1) this section did not apply to any child sup11 port obligation by reason of subsection (b) for any

12 prior period, and

13 ‘‘(2) there is a legally enforceable past-due

14 amount under such obligation for such period,

15 then such past-due amount shall be treated for purposes

16 of this section as owed (until paid) for each month that

17 this section applies to such obligation.

18 ‘‘(k) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—

19 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this sec20 tion—

21 ‘‘(A) WITHHOLDING CERTIFICATE.—The

22 term ‘withholding certificate’ means the with23 holding exemption certificate used for purposes

24 of chapter 24.
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1 ‘‘(B) BUSINESS DAY.—The term ‘business

2 day’ means any day other than a Saturday,

3 Sunday, or legal holiday (as defined in section

4 7503).

5 ‘‘(2) TIMELY MAILING.—Any notice under sub6 section (c)(2) or (d)(2) which is delivered by United

7 States mail shall be treated as given on the date of

8 the United States postmark stamped on the cover in

9 which such notice is mailed.

10 ‘‘(l) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe

11 such regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to

12 carry out the purposes of this section.’’

13 (b) WITHHELD CHILD SUPPORT TO BE SHOWN ON

14 W–2.—Subsection (a) of section 6051 of such Code, as

15 amended by section 310(c)(3) of the Health Insurance

16 Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is amended

17 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (10), by strik18 ing the period at the end of paragraph (11) and inserting

19 ‘‘, and’’, and by inserting after paragraph (11) the follow20 ing new paragraph:

21 ‘‘(12) the total amount deducted and withheld

22 as a child support obligation under section 7525(c).’’

23 (c) APPLICATION OF ESTIMATED TAX.—

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (f) of section

25 6654 of such Code (relating to failure by individual
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1 to pay estimated income tax) is amended by striking

2 ‘‘minus’’ at the end of paragraph (2) and inserting

3 ‘‘plus’’, by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph

4 (4), and by inserting after paragraph (2) the follow5 ing new paragraph:

6 ‘‘(3) the aggregate amount of the child support

7 obligations of the taxpayer for months ending with

8 or within the taxable year (other than such an obli9 gation for any month for which section 7525 does

10 not apply to such obligation), minus’’.

11 (2) Paragraph (1) of section 6654(d) of such

12 Code is amended by adding at the end the following

13 new subparagraph:

14 ‘‘(D) DETERMINATION OF REQUIRED AN15 NUAL PAYMENT FOR TAXPAYERS REQUIRED TO

16 PAY CHILD SUPPORT.—In the case of a tax17 payer who is required under section 7525 to

18 pay a child support obligation (as defined in

19 section 7525) for any month ending with or

20 within the taxable year, the required annual

21 payment shall be the sum of—

22 ‘‘(i) the amount determined under

23 subparagraph (B) without regard to sub24 section (f)(3), plus
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1 ‘‘(ii) the aggregate amount described

2 in subsection (f)(3).’’

3 (3) CREDIT FOR WITHHELD AMOUNTS, ETC.—

4 Subsection (g) of section 6654 of such Code is

5 amended by adding at the end the following new

6 paragraph:

7 ‘‘(3) CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS.—For pur8 poses of applying this section, the amounts collected

9 under section 7525 shall be deemed to be a payment

10 of the amount described in subsection (f)(3) on the

11 date such amounts were actually withheld or paid, as

12 the case may be.’’

13 (d) PENALTY FOR FALSE INFORMATION ON WITH14 HOLDING CERTIFICATE.—Section 7205 of such Code (re15 lating to fraudulent withholding exemption certificate or

16 failure to supply information) is amended by adding at

17 the end the following new subsection:

18 ‘‘(c) WITHHOLDING OF CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGA19 TIONS.—If any individual willfully makes a false state20 ment under section 7525(a), then such individual shall,

21 in addition to any other penalty provided by law, upon

22 conviction thereof, be fined not more than $1,000, or im23 prisoned not more than 1 year, or both.’’

24 (e) NEW WITHHOLDING CERTIFICATE REQUIRED.—

25 Not later than 90 days after the date this Act takes effect,
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1 each employee who has a child support obligation to which

2 section 7525 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as

3 added by this section) applies shall furnish a new with4 holding certificate to each of such employee’s employers.

5 A certificate required under the preceding sentence shall

6 be treated as required under such section 7525.

7 (f) REPEAL OF OFFSET OF PAST-DUE SUPPORT

8 AGAINST OVERPAYMENTS.—

9 (1) Section 6402 of such Code, as amended by

10 section 110(l)(7) of the Personal Responsibility and

11 Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is

12 amended by striking subsections (c) and (h) and by

13 redesignating subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), (i), and

14 (j) as subsections (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h), re15 spectively.

16 (2) Subsection (a) of section 6402 of such

17 Code, as so amended, is amended by striking ‘‘(c),

18 (d), and (e)’’ and inserting ‘‘(c) and (d)’’.

19 (3) Subsection (c) of section 6402 of such Code

20 (as redesignated by paragraph (1)) is amended—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘(other than past-due sup22 port subject to the provisions of subsection

23 (c))’’ in paragraph (1),

24 (B) by striking ‘‘after such overpayment is

25 reduced pursuant to subsection (c) with respect
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1 to past-due support collected pursuant to an as2 signment under section 402(a)(26) of the Social

3 Security Act and’’ in paragraph (2).

4 (4) Subsection (d) of section 6402 of such Code

5 (as redesignated by paragraph (1)) is amended by

6 striking ‘‘or (d)’’.

7 (g) REPEAL OF COLLECTION OF PAST-DUE SUP8 PORT.—Section 6305 of such Code is hereby repealed.

9 (h) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—

10 (1) The table of sections for subchapter A of

11 chapter 64 of such Code is amended by striking the

12 item relating to section 6305.

13 (2) The table of sections for chapter 77 of such

14 Code is amended by adding at the end thereof the

15 following new item:

‘‘Sec. 7525. Collection of child support.’’

16 (h) USE OF PARENT LOCATOR SERVICE.—Section

17 453(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 653(a)) is

18 amended by inserting ‘‘or the Internal Revenue Service’’

19 before ‘‘information as’’.

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