I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6191 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose an excise tax 
on excessively disparate wages paid to chief executive officers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 2, 2023 
Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. FROST, Ms. 
NORTON, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Mr. BOW-
MAN) 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 impose 
an excise tax on excessively disparate wages paid to 
chief executive officers. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Curtailing Executive 
Overcompensation (CEO) Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXCISE TAX ON EXCESSIVE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFI-
CER PAY DISPARITY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle D of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the 
following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 50B—PAY DISPARITY 
‘‘Sec. 5000E. Excessive pay disparity. 
‘‘SEC. 5000E. EXCESSIVE PAY DISPARITY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any employer 
which is an applicable employer for the calendar year, 
there is hereby imposed a tax equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(1) 1 percent of the product of— 
‘‘(A) the pay disparity factor of the appli-
cable employer for the calendar year, and 
‘‘(B) the excess of— 
‘‘(i) amount determined under sub-
section (c)(2)(A) for such calendar year, 
over 
‘‘(ii) 5,000 percent of the amount de-
termined under subsection (c)(2)(B) for 
such calendar year, or 
‘‘(2) 1 percent of the gross receipts (within the 
meaning of section 448(c)) of such applicable em-
ployer. 
‘‘(b) APPLICABLE EMPLOYER.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘applicable employer’ means, with re-
spect to any calendar year, any employer which— 
‘‘(A) has not less than $100,000,000 in 
gross receipts (within the meaning of section 
448(c)) for each of the 3 calendar years pre-
ceding such calendar year, and 
‘‘(B) 
has 
paid 
wages 
in 
excess 
of 
$10,000,000 for each calendar year in the 3- 
calendar-year period taken into account under 
subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(2) AGGREGATION
RULE.—For purposes of 
this section, the rules of subsection (a) and (b) of 
section 52 shall apply. 
‘‘(3) PREDECESSORS.—For purposes of para-
graph (1)(A), rules similar to the rules of section 
448(c)(3)(D) shall apply. 
‘‘(4) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any cal-
endar year after 2024, the $100,000,000 
amount under paragraph (1)(A) and the 
$10,000,000 amount under paragraph (1)(B) 
shall each be increased by an amount equal 
to— 
‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 
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‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de-
termined under section 1(f)(3) for such 
calendar year, determined by substituting 
‘calendar year 2023’ for ‘calendar year 
2016’ in subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof. 
‘‘(B) ROUNDING.—The amount of any in-
crease under clause (i) shall be rounded to the 
nearest multiple of $100,000. 
‘‘(c) PAY DISPARITY FACTOR.—For purposes of this 
section— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘pay disparity 
factor’ means, with respect to any applicable em-
ployer for calendar year, the excess (if any) of— 
‘‘(A) the pay disparity ratio of such em-
ployer for such calendar year, over 
‘‘(B) 50. 
‘‘(2) PAY
DISPARITY
RATIO.—The term ‘pay 
disparity ratio’ means, with respect to any applicable 
employer for calendar year, the ratio of— 
‘‘(A) the average qualified wages for the 5- 
calendar year period ending with such calendar 
year of the individual who is the highest com-
pensated employee of the applicable employer 
for such calendar year, to 
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‘‘(B) the median wages paid to all applica-
ble employees of the applicable employer for 
such calendar year. 
‘‘(3) WAGES; QUALIFIED WAGES.— 
‘‘(A) WAGES.—The term ‘wages’ has the 
meaning 
given 
such 
term 
under 
section 
3401(a), determined without regard to para-
graph (8) thereof. 
‘‘(B) QUALIFIED WAGES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘quali-
fied wages’ means wages increased by— 
‘‘(I) any elective deferrals (within 
the meaning of section 402(g)(3)) not 
included in wages, and 
‘‘(II) any amounts described in 
section 415(c)(3)(D)(ii) which are not 
included in wages. 
‘‘(ii) SELF-EMPLOYED
INDIVIDUALS 
AND OWNER-EMPLOYEES.—In the case of 
an employee (within the meaning of section 
401(c)(1)), the term ‘qualified wages’ in-
cludes the earned income (as defined in 
section 401(c)(2) of such employee, but de-
termined without regard to any exclusion 
under section 911) of such employee. 
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‘‘(4) APPLICABLE EMPLOYEE.—For purposes of 
this subsection— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘applicable 
employee’ means any individual whose wages in 
connection with services performed for the ap-
plicable employer for the calendar year are 
equal to or more than $5,000. 
‘‘(B) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 
calendar year after 2024, the $5,000 
amount under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall 
be increased by an amount equal to— 
‘‘(I) such dollar amount, multi-
plied by 
‘‘(II) the cost-of-living adjust-
ment determined under section 1(f)(3) 
for such calendar year, determined by 
substituting ‘calendar year 2023’ for 
‘calendar year 2016’ in subparagraph 
(A)(ii) thereof. 
‘‘(ii) ROUNDING.—The amount of any 
increase under clause (i) shall be rounded 
to the nearest multiple of $100. 
‘‘(d) JOINT AND SEVERAL LIABILITY.—If more than 
one taxpayer is treated as a single employer under this 
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section by reason of subsection (b)(2), then each such tax-
payer shall be jointly and severally liable for the tax im-
posed by subsection (a). 
‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall issue regu-
lations as necessary to prevent avoidance of the purposes 
of this section, including regulations to prevent the manip-
ulation of the pay disparity factor by changes to the com-
position of the workforce (including by using the services 
of contractors rather than employees).’’. 
(b) NO DEDUCTION FROM INCOME TAXES.—Section 
275(a)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of is amended by 
inserting ‘‘50B,’’ after ‘‘50A,’’. 
(c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of chapters 
for subtitle D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by adding at the end the following new item: 
‘‘CHAPTER 50B—PAY DISPARITY’’. 
(d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 
the date of the enactment of this Act. 
Æ 
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