I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2953 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow penalty-free 

withdrawals from retirement plans for domestic abuse victims. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2021 

Mrs. MCBATH (for herself, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, and Mr. SMUCKER) 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 allow penalty-free withdrawals from retirement plans for domestic 

abuse victims. 

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 ‘‘Savings Access For 

5 Escaping and Rebuilding Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘SAFER 

6 Act’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2953 IH

1 SEC. 2. PENALTY-FREE WITHDRAWALS FROM RETIREMENT 

2 PLANS FOR INDIVIDUALS IN CASE OF DOMES3 TIC ABUSE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 72(t)(2) of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end 

6 the following new subparagraph: 

7 ‘‘(I) DISTRIBUTIONS FROM RETIREMENT

8 PLAN IN CASE OF DOMESTIC ABUSE.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any eligible dis10 tribution to a domestic abuse victim. 

11 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—The aggregate 

12 amount which may be treated as an eligi13 ble distribution to a domestic abuse victim 

14 by any individual shall not exceed an 

15 amount equal to the lesser of— 

16 ‘‘(I) $10,000, or 

17 ‘‘(II) 50 percent of the present 

18 value of the nonforfeitable accrued 

19 benefit of the employee under the 

20 plan. 

21 ‘‘(iii) ELIGIBLE DISTRIBUTION TO A

22 DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIM.—For purposes 

23 of this subparagraph— 

24 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A distribu25 tion shall be treated as an eligible dis26 tribution to a domestic abuse victim if 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2953 IH

1 such distribution is from an applicable 

2 eligible retirement plan to an indi3 vidual and made during the 1-year pe4 riod beginning on the date on which 

5 the individual is a victim of domestic 

6 abuse by a spouse or domestic part7 ner. 

8 ‘‘(II) DOMESTIC ABUSE.—The 

9 term ‘domestic abuse’ means physical, 

10 psychological, sexual, emotional, or 

11 economic abuse, including efforts to 

12 control, isolate, humiliate, or intimi13 date the victim, or to undermine the 

14 victim’s ability to reason independ15 ently, including by means of abuse of 

16 the victim’s child or another family 

17 member living in the household. 

18 ‘‘(iv) AMOUNT DISTRIBUTED MAY BE

19 REPAID.— 

20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Any indi21 vidual who receives a distribution de22 scribed in clause (i) may, at any time 

23 during the 3-year period beginning on 

24 the day after the date on which such 

25 distribution was received, make one or 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2953 IH

1 more contributions in an aggregate 

2 amount not to exceed the amount of 

3 such distribution to an applicable eli4 gible retirement plan of which such 

5 individual is a beneficiary and to 

6 which a rollover contribution of such 

7 distribution could be made under sec8 tion 402(c), 403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), 

9 408(d)(3), or 457(e)(16), as the case 

10 may be. 

11 ‘‘(II) LIMITATION ON CONTRIBU12 TIONS TO APPLICABLE ELIGIBLE RE13 TIREMENT PLANS OTHER THAN

14 IRAs.—The aggregate amount of con15 tributions made by an individual 

16 under subclause (I) to any applicable 

17 eligible retirement plan which is not 

18 an individual retirement plan shall not 

19 exceed the aggregate amount of eligi20 ble distributions to a domestic abuse 

21 victim which are made from such plan 

22 to such individual. Subclause (I) shall 

23 not apply to contributions to any ap24 plicable eligible retirement plan which 

25 is not an individual retirement plan 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2953 IH

1 unless the individual is eligible to 

2 make contributions (other than those 

3 described in subclause (I)) to such ap4 plicable eligible retirement plan. 

5 ‘‘(III) TREATMENT OF REPAY6 MENTS OF DISTRIBUTIONS FROM AP7 PLICABLE ELIGIBLE RETIREMENT

8 PLANS OTHER THAN IRAS.—If a con9 tribution is made under subclause (I) 

10 with respect to an eligible distribution 

11 to a domestic abuse victim from an 

12 applicable eligible retirement plan 

13 other than an individual retirement 

14 plan, then the taxpayer shall, to the 

15 extent of the amount of the contribu16 tion, be treated as having received 

17 such distribution in an eligible rollover 

18 distribution (as defined in section 

19 402(c)(4)) and as having transferred 

20 the amount to the applicable eligible 

21 retirement plan in a direct trustee to 

22 trustee transfer within 60 days of the 

23 distribution. 

24 ‘‘(IV) TREATMENT OF REPAY25 MENTS FOR DISTRIBUTIONS FROM


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2953 IH

1 IRAS.—If a contribution is made 

2 under subclause (I) with respect to an 

3 eligible distribution to a domestic 

4 abuse victim from an individual retire5 ment plan, then, to the extent of the 

6 amount of the contribution, such dis7 tribution shall be treated as a dis8 tribution described in section 

9 408(d)(3) and as having been trans10 ferred to the applicable eligible retire11 ment plan in a direct trustee to trust12 ee transfer within 60 days of the dis13 tribution. 

14 ‘‘(v) DEFINITION AND SPECIAL

15 RULE.—For purposes of this subpara16 graph: 

17 ‘‘(I) APPLICABLE ELIGIBLE RE18 TIREMENT PLAN.—The term ‘applica19 ble eligible retirement plan’ means an 

20 eligible retirement plan (as defined in 

21 section 402(c)(8)(B)) other than a de22 fined benefit plan. 

23 ‘‘(II) DISTRIBUTIONS TREATED

24 AS MEETING PLAN DISTRIBUTION RE25 QUIREMENTS; SELF-CERTIFICATION.— 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2953 IH

1 Any distribution which the employee 

2 or participant certifies as being an eli3 gible distribution to a domestic abuse 

4 victim shall be treated as meeting the 

5 requirements of sections 

6 401(k)(2)(B)(i), 403(b)(7)(A)(ii), 

7 403(b)(11), and 457(d)(1)(A).’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall apply to distributions made after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS