I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3613
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for the disclosure 
of return information for student financial assistance purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 21, 2003
Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, and Mr. HOUGH-
TON) 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 provide 
for the disclosure of return information for student fi-
nancial assistance 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 ‘‘Student Aid Stream-
lined Disclosure Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF TAX RETURN INFORMATION FOR 
STUDENT AID PURPOSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (l) of section 6103 of 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disclosure
of returns and return information for purposes other than 
tax administration) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(13) DISCLOSURE OF RETURN INFORMATION 
FOR STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PURPOSES.—
‘‘(A) FULL DISCLOSURE TO DEPARTMENT 
OF EDUCATION.—The Secretary may, with re-
spect to a person described in subparagraph 
(F)(i) and upon written request from the Sec-
retary of Education, disclose to the officers and 
employees of the Department of Education for 
the purposes described in subparagraph (E)—
‘‘(i) taxpayer identity information, 
and 
‘‘(ii) the following items in the case of 
a material discrepancy between the infor-
mation reported, directly or indirectly, to 
officers, employees, and contractors of the 
Department of Education and the fol-
lowing items: 
‘‘(I) The filing status of that tax-
payer. 
‘‘(II) The adjusted gross income 
of that taxpayer. 
‘‘(III) The total earnings from 
employment (including net earnings
from self-employment) of that tax-
payer. 
‘‘(IV) The Federal income tax li-
ability of that taxpayer. 
‘‘(V) The type of tax return filed 
by that taxpayer. 
‘‘(B) REDISCLOSURE TO CONTRACTORS.—
Officers and employees of the Department of 
Education may disclose to contractors whether 
a material discrepancy between items reported, 
directly or indirectly, to an officer, employee, or 
contractor of the Department of Education and 
any of the items described in subparagraph 
(A)(ii) would result in an over or under award 
of grants or loans under title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965. 
‘‘(C) FACT
OF
DISCREPANCY
REDISCLO-
SURE OF INFORMATION.—
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to sub-
paragraphs (D) and (E), officers, employ-
ees, and contractors of the Department of 
Education may, with respect to an applica-
tion for assistance under title IV of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965, disclose to 
persons described in clauses (ii) and (iii)—
‘‘(I) the fact of a material dis-
crepancy between items reported, di-
rectly or indirectly, to such officers, 
employees, or contractors and any of 
the items described in subparagraph 
(A)(ii), and 
‘‘(II) whether such items as 
shown on the return are greater than 
or less than such items as reported to 
the Department of Education. 
‘‘(ii) APPLICANT.—The person de-
scribed in this clause is the applicant de-
scribed in subclause (I) or (II) of subpara-
graph (F)(i). 
‘‘(iii) OTHER PERSONS.—The persons 
described in this clause are—
‘‘(I) individuals whose informa-
tion is discrepant, 
‘‘(II) officers and employees of 
institutions of higher education (as 
defined in section 102 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965) that admin-
ister, or assist the Secretary of Edu-
cation in administering, a grant, loan,
benefit, or work assistance program 
under title IV of such Act, 
‘‘(III) officers and employees of 
State agencies that administer a grant 
or work assistance program under 
subpart 4 of part A of title IV of such 
Act, and 
‘‘(IV) auditors engaged to per-
form audits or reviews required under 
section 487(c) of such Act, 
‘‘(D) LIMITATION
ON
FULL
REDISCLO-
SURES
RELATING
TO
MATERIAL
DISCREP-
ANCIES.—Information specific to an individual 
which is disclosed by the Secretary under sub-
paragraph (A) may only be redisclosed to the 
individual whose information is discrepant and 
to the Department of Justice for purposes re-
lating to the collection of overpayments of 
grants or loans provided under title IV of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965, including by 
means of litigation. 
‘‘(E) RESTRICTION ON USE OF DISCLOSED 
INFORMATION.—
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Information may 
be disclosed under subparagraphs (A)
through (C) only for the purpose of, and to 
the extent necessary to—
‘‘(I) verify the information re-
ported by a person described in sub-
paragraph (F)(i) in connection with 
any application for grant, loan, ben-
efit or work assistance under title IV 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 
‘‘(II) determine income contin-
gent repayment amounts and sched-
ules on an applicable student loan, 
‘‘(III) collect overpayments of 
grants or loans provided under title 
IV of such Act, including by means of 
litigation in the case of the Depart-
ment of Justice, or 
‘‘(IV) audit title IV student as-
sistance programs, as required under 
section 487(c) of such Act. 
‘‘(ii) INFORMATION LIMITED TO TAX 
YEARS
REQUIRED.—Information disclosed 
under this paragraph shall be limited to 
the tax years required, in accordance with 
such Act and implementing regulations, to
carry out the purposes described in this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(F) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—
For purposes of this paragraph—
‘‘(i) PERSON DESCRIBED.—A person 
is described in this clause if the person—
‘‘(I) has applied for grant, loan, 
benefit, or work assistance under title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 
1965, 
‘‘(II) is seeking income contin-
gent repayment on an applicable stu-
dent loan, 
‘‘(III) in the case of an individual 
who is a dependent student and who 
has applied for the assistance de-
scribed in subclauses (I) and (II), is 
the parent (as defined for purposes of 
title IV of such Act) of such indi-
vidual, or 
‘‘(IV) in the case of an individual 
who is an independent student and 
who has applied for the assistance de-
scribed in subclauses (I) and (II), is 
the spouse of such individual.
‘‘(ii) MATERIAL
DISCREPANCY.—The 
term ‘material discrepancy’ means, with re-
spect to similar items in 2 sets of informa-
tion—
‘‘(I) a difference between such 
sets of not less than the greater of 
$100 or one percent of the item 
shown on the return in the case of 
items described in subclause (II), 
(III), or (IV) of subparagraph (A)(ii), 
and 
‘‘(II) any difference between such 
sets of information in the case of 
items described in subclause (I) or (V) 
of subparagraph (A)(ii). 
‘‘(iii) APPLICABLE STUDENT LOAN.—
The 
term 
‘applicable 
student 
loan’ 
means—
‘‘(I) any loan made under the 
program authorized under part D of 
title IV of such Act, and 
‘‘(II) any loan made under part 
B or E of title IV of such Act that is 
in default and has been assigned to 
the Department of Education.
‘‘(iv) EXCLUSIVE
AUTHORITY.—For 
purposes of subsection (a), subsection (c) 
shall not be construed to be an authoriza-
tion for any disclosure covered by this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(v) FUNDING.—Information may be 
disclosed under this paragraph only if 
there is in effect an agreement between the 
Secretary and the Secretary of Education 
under which the Secretary of Education 
makes periodic payments to the Sec-
retary—
‘‘(I) to reimburse the Secretary 
for costs incurred in carrying out this 
paragraph, and 
‘‘(II) to cover the cost to the Sec-
retary of monitoring compliance with 
this section by the Secretary of Edu-
cation in carrying out this paragraph. 
‘‘(vi) REFERENCES TO HIGHER EDU-
CATION
ACT
OF
1965.—For purposes of 
this paragraph, references to the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 shall be treated as 
references to the Higher Education Act of
1965 as in effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this paragraph. 
‘‘(G) 
TERMINATION.—This 
paragraph 
shall not apply to requests for disclosures made 
after September 30, 2008.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AND OTHER AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 6103(a)(3) of such Code is amended 
by striking ‘‘paragraph (6), (12), or (16) of sub-
section (l),’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (6), (12), 
(13), or (16) of subsection (l),’’. 
(2) Section 6103(p) of such Code is amended—
(A) in paragraph (3)(A) by striking 
‘‘(13)’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (4) by striking ‘‘para-
graph (6)(A), (12)(B), or (16) of subsection 
(l)’’ in the flush language at the end and insert-
ing ‘‘paragraph (6)(A), (12)(B), (13), or (16) 
of subsection (l)’’. 
(3) Section 7213(a)(2) of such Code is amended 
by inserting ‘‘(13),’’ after ‘‘(12),’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to requests for disclosures made 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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