I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7386 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 to facilitate the disclosure of tax return information to 
carry out the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 20, 2018 
Mr. WALBERG (for himself and Ms. DELBENE) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the High-
er Education Act of 1965 to facilitate the disclosure 
of tax return information to carry out the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Faster Access to Fed-
eral Student Aid Act of 2018’’. 
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SEC. 2. SECURE DISCLOSURE OF TAX-RETURN INFORMA-
TION TO CARRY OUT THE HIGHER EDU-
CATION ACT OF 1965. 
(a) AMENDMENTS
TO
THE INTERNAL REVENUE 
CODE OF 1986.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (13) of section 
6103(l) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(13) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION 
TO CARRY OUT THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 
1965.— 
‘‘(A) INCOME-CONTINGENT
OR
INCOME- 
BASED REPAYMENT AND TOTAL AND PERMA-
NENT DISABILITY DISCHARGE.—The Secretary 
shall, upon written request from the Secretary 
of Education, disclose to officers, employees, 
and contractors of the Department of Edu-
cation, as specifically authorized and designated 
by the Secretary of Education, only for the pur-
pose of (and to the extent necessary in) estab-
lishing, renewing, administering, and con-
ducting analyses and forecasts for estimating 
costs related to income-contingent or income- 
based repayment programs, and the discharge 
of loans based on a total and permanent dis-
ability (within the meaning of section 437(a) of 
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Secretary and the Secretary of Education 
to administer the Federal financial aid pro-
grams as required by the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965. 
‘‘(B) 
FEDERAL
STUDENT
FINANCIAL 
AID.—The Secretary shall, upon written request 
from the Secretary of Education, disclose to of-
ficers, employees, and contractors of the De-
partment of Education, as specifically author-
ized and designated by the Secretary of Edu-
cation, only for the purpose of (and to the ex-
tent necessary in) determining eligibility for, 
and amount of, Federal student financial aid 
under programs authorized by title IV of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 and conducting 
analyses and forecasts for estimating costs re-
lated to such programs, the following return in-
formation (as defined in subsection (b)(2)) with 
respect to taxpayers identified by the Secretary 
of Education as applicants for Federal student 
financial aid under title IV of such Act, for tax-
able years specified by such Secretary: 
‘‘(i) Taxpayer identity information 
with respect to such taxpayer. 
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‘‘(ii) The filing status of such tax-
payer. 
‘‘(iii) Type of tax return from which 
the return information is provided. 
‘‘(iv) The adjusted gross income of 
such taxpayer. 
‘‘(v) The amount of any net earnings 
from self-employment (as defined in sec-
tion 1402), wages (as defined in section 
3121(a) or 3401(a)), and taxable income 
from a farming business (as defined in sec-
tion 236A(e)(4)) for the period reported on 
the return. 
‘‘(vi) The total income tax of such 
taxpayer. 
‘‘(vii) Total number of exemptions 
claimed, or total number of individuals and 
dependents claimed, as applicable, on the 
return. 
‘‘(viii) Number of children with re-
spect to which tax credits under section 24 
are claimed on the return. 
‘‘(ix) Amount of any credit claimed 
under section 25A for the taxable year. 
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‘‘(x) Amount of individual retirement 
account distributions not included in ad-
justed gross income for the taxable year. 
‘‘(xi) Amount of individual retirement 
account contributions and payments to 
self-employed SEP, Keogh, and other 
qualified plans which were deducted from 
income for the taxable year. 
‘‘(xii) The amount of tax-exempt in-
terest. 
‘‘(xiii) Amounts from retirement pen-
sions and annuities not included in ad-
justed gross income for the taxable year. 
‘‘(xiv) If applicable, the fact that 
there is no return filed for such taxpayer 
for the applicable year. 
‘‘(xv) Other information determined to 
be necessary by agreement between the 
Secretary and the Secretary of Education 
to administer the Federal financial aid pro-
grams as required by the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965. 
‘‘(C) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED 
INFORMATION.— 
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Return informa-
tion disclosed under subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) may be used by officers, employ-
ees, and contractors of the Department of 
Education, as specifically authorized and 
designated by the Secretary of Education, 
only for the purposes and to the extent 
necessary described in such subparagraphs 
and for mitigating risks (as defined in 
clause (ii)) relating to the programs de-
scribed in such subparagraphs. 
‘‘(ii) MITIGATING
RISKS.—For pur-
poses of this subparagraph, the term ‘miti-
gating risks’ means, with respect to the 
programs described in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B)— 
‘‘(I) analyzing or estimating costs 
associated with potential changes to 
the need-analysis formula, 
‘‘(II) oversight activities by the 
Office of Inspector General of the De-
partment of Education as authorized 
by the Inspector General Act of 1978, 
as amended, 
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‘‘(III) 
developing 
or 
admin-
istering statistical models that inform 
support to populations of Federal stu-
dent loan borrowers who are at risk of 
default or delinquency, 
‘‘(IV) reducing the net cost of 
improper payments to Federal finan-
cial aid recipients, and 
‘‘(V) producing aggregate statis-
tics for reporting, research, or con-
sumer information on the performance 
of programs or institutions of higher 
education participating in the pro-
grams under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965. 
Such term does not include the conduct of 
criminal investigations or prosecutions. 
‘‘(iii) REDISCLOSURE
TO
INSTITU-
TIONS
OF
HIGHER
EDUCATION, 
STATE 
HIGHER EDUCATION AGENCIES, AND DES-
IGNATED SCHOLARSHIP ORGANIZATIONS.— 
The Secretary of Education, and officers, 
employees, and contractors of the Depart-
ment of Education, may disclose return in-
formation received under subparagraph 
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(B), solely for the use in the application, 
award, and administration of Federal stu-
dent financial aid, State aid, or aid award-
ed by eligible institutions or such entities 
as the Secretary of Education may des-
ignate, to the following persons: 
‘‘(I) An institution of higher edu-
cation with which the Secretary of 
Education has an agreement under 
subpart 1 of part A, or part D or E, 
of title IV of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965. 
‘‘(II) A State higher education 
agency. 
‘‘(III) A scholarship organization 
which is designated by the Secretary 
of Education as of the date of the en-
actment of the Faster Access to Fed-
eral Student Aid Act of 2018 as an 
organization eligible to receive the in-
formation provided under this clause. 
The preceding sentence shall only apply to 
the extent that the taxpayer with respect 
to whom the return information relates 
provides consent for such disclosure to the 
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