I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6276 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit treatment of student 
loan payments as elective deferrals for purposes of employer matching 
contributions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 13, 2020 
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois (for himself, Mr. LAHOOD, Ms. SEWELL of 
Alabama, Mr. PASCRELL, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. ZELDIN, Mr. ESTES, and 
Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania) 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 permit 
treatment of student loan payments as elective deferrals 
for purposes of employer matching contributions, 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 ‘‘Retirement Parity for 
Student Loans Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS AS 
ELECTIVE DEFERRALS FOR PURPOSES OF 
MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (A) of section 
401(m)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i), by 
striking the period at the end of clause (ii) and inserting 
‘‘, and’’, and by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(iii) subject to the requirements of 
paragraph (13), any employer contribution 
made to a defined contribution plan on be-
half of an employee on account of a quali-
fied student loan payment.’’. 
(b) QUALIFIED STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT.—Para-
graph (4) of section 401(m) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) QUALIFIED
STUDENT
LOAN
PAY-
MENT.—The term ‘qualified student loan pay-
ment’ means a payment made by an employee 
in repayment of a qualified education loan (as 
defined in section 221(d)(1)) incurred to pay 
qualified higher education expenses of the em-
ployee, but only— 
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‘‘(i) to the extent such payments in 
the aggregate for the year do not exceed 
an amount equal to— 
‘‘(I) the limitation applicable 
under section 402(g) for the year (or, 
if lesser, the employee’s compensation 
(as defined in section 415(c)(3)) for 
the year), reduced by 
‘‘(II) the elective deferrals made 
by the employee for such year, and 
‘‘(ii) if the employee certifies to the 
employer making the matching contribu-
tion under this paragraph that such pay-
ment has been made on such loan. 
For purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
‘qualified higher education expenses’ means the 
cost of attendance (as defined in section 472 of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965, as in effect 
on the day before the date of the enactment of 
the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997) at an eligible 
educational institution (as defined in section 
221(d)(2)).’’. 
(c) MATCHING
CONTRIBUTIONS
FOR
QUALIFIED 
STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS.—Subsection (m) of section 
401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
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redesignating paragraph (13) as paragraph (14), and by 
inserting after paragraph (12) the following new para-
graph: 
‘‘(13) MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS FOR QUALI-
FIED STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of para-
graph (4)(A)(iii), an employer contribution 
made to a defined contribution plan on account 
of a qualified student loan payment shall be 
treated as a matching contribution for purposes 
of this title if— 
‘‘(i) the plan provides matching con-
tributions on account of elective deferrals 
at the same rate as contributions on ac-
count of qualified student loan payments, 
‘‘(ii) the plan provides matching con-
tributions on account of qualified student 
loan payments only on behalf of employees 
otherwise eligible to make elective defer-
rals, and 
‘‘(iii) under the plan, all employees el-
igible to receive matching contributions on 
account of elective deferrals are eligible to 
receive matching contributions on account 
of qualified student loan payments. 
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‘‘(B) TREATMENT FOR PURPOSES OF NON-
DISCRIMINATION RULES, ETC.— 
‘‘(i) NONDISCRIMINATION
RULES.— 
For purposes of subparagraph (A)(iii), 
subsection (a)(4), and section 410(b), 
matching contributions described in para-
graph (4)(A)(iii) shall not fail to be treated 
as available to an employee solely because 
such employee does not have debt incurred 
under a qualified education loan (as de-
fined in section 221(d)(1)). 
‘‘(ii) STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS NOT 
TREATED
AS
PLAN
CONTRIBUTION.—Ex-
cept as provided in clause (iii), a qualified 
student loan payment shall not be treated 
as a contribution to a plan under this title. 
‘‘(iii) 
MATCHING
CONTRIBUTION 
RULES.—Solely for purposes of meeting 
the requirements of paragraph (11)(B) or 
(12) of this subsection, or paragraph 
(11)(B)(i)(II), (12)(B), or (13)(D) of sub-
section (k), a plan may treat a qualified 
student loan payment as an elective defer-
ral or an elective contribution, whichever is 
applicable.’’. 
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(d) SIMPLE RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS.—Paragraph 
(2) of section 408(p) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(F) 
MATCHING
CONTRIBUTIONS
FOR 
QUALIFIED STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to the 
rules of clause (iii), an arrangement shall 
not fail to be treated as meeting the re-
quirements of subparagraph (A)(iii) solely 
because under the arrangement, solely for 
purposes of such subparagraph, qualified 
student loan payments are treated as 
amounts elected by the employee under 
subparagraph (A)(i)(I) to the extent such 
payments do not exceed— 
‘‘(I) the applicable dollar amount 
under subparagraph (E) (after appli-
cation of section 414(v)) for the year 
(or, if lesser, the employee’s com-
pensation 
(as 
defined 
in 
section 
415(c)(3)) for the year), reduced by 
‘‘(II) any other amounts elected 
by the employee under subparagraph 
(A)(i)(I) for the year. 
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‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED STUDENT LOAN PAY-
MENT.—For purposes of this subpara-
graph— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—The term 
‘qualified 
student 
loan 
payment’ 
means a payment made by an em-
ployee in repayment of a qualified 
education loan (as defined in section 
221(d)(1)) incurred to pay qualified 
higher education expenses of the em-
ployee, but only if the employee cer-
tifies to the employer making the 
matching contribution that such pay-
ment has been made on such a loan. 
‘‘(II) QUALIFIED
HIGHER
EDU-
CATION EXPENSES.—The term ‘quali-
fied higher education expenses’ has 
the same meaning as when used in 
section 401(m)(4)(D). 
‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE RULES.—Clause (i) 
shall apply to an arrangement only if, 
under the arrangement— 
‘‘(I) matching contributions on 
account of qualified student loan pay-
ments are provided only on behalf of 
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matching contributions on account of qualified student 
loan payments as described in section 401(m)(13).’’. 
(g) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall 
prescribe regulations for purposes of implementing the 
amendments made by this section, including regulations— 
(1) permitting a plan to make matching con-
tributions for qualified student loan payments, as 
defined in sections 401(m)(4)(D) and 408(p)(2)(F) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as added by 
this section, at a different frequency than matching 
contributions are otherwise made under the plan, 
provided that the frequency is not less than annu-
ally, 
(2) permitting employers to establish reasonable 
procedures to claim matching contributions for such 
qualified student loan payments under the plan, in-
cluding an annual deadline (not earlier than 3 
months after the close of each plan year) by which 
a claim must be made, and 
(3) promulgating model amendments which 
plans may adopt to implement matching contribu-
tions on such qualified student loan payments for 
purposes of sections 401(m), 408(p), 403(b), and 
457(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
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(h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to contributions made for years 
beginning after December 31, 2019. 
Æ 
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