[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1857 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1857
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide procedural
fairness in the application of the controlled group provisions to
employers who contribute to multiemployer pension plans and who engage
in bona fide corporate transactions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 13, (legislative day, November 12), 2003
Mr. Lott (for himself and Mr. Smith) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide procedural
fairness in the application of the controlled group provisions to
employers who contribute to multiemployer pension plans and who engage
in bona fide corporate transactions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Multiemployer Pension Plan
Procedural Fairness Act of 2003''.
SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986.
(a) In General.--Section 414(f) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986 is amended--
(1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
``(2) Common control.--
``(A) In general.--For purposes of this subsection
and subtitle E of title IV of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.),
all trades or businesses (whether or not incorporated)
which are under common control within the meaning of
subsection (c) are considered a single employer.
``(B) Principal purpose test.--If a principal
purpose of any transaction is to evade or avoid
liability under subtitle E of title IV of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1381
et seq.), then, subject to paragraph (6), the
determination of whether one or more trades or
businesses are under common control for purposes of
such subtitle shall be made without regard to such
transaction.'', and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(6) Determination of common control more than 5 years
following a transaction.--
``(A) In general.--If--
``(i) a plan sponsor of a plan determines
that--
``(I) a complete or partial
withdrawal of an employer has occurred,
or
``(II) an employer is liable for
withdrawal liability payments with
respect to the complete or partial
withdrawal of an employer from the
plan,
``(ii) such determination is based in whole
or in part on a finding by the plan sponsor
that a principal purpose of any transaction was
to evade or avoid liability under subtitle E of
title IV of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.),
and
``(iii) such transaction occurred at least
5 years before the date of the complete or
partial withdrawal,
then the special rules under subparagraph (B) shall be
used in applying section 4219(c) and section 4221(a) of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1399(c) and 1401(a)) to the employer.
``(B) Special rules.--
``(i) Determination.--Notwithstanding
section 4221(a)(3) of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C.
1401(a)(3))--
``(I) a determination by the plan
sponsor under subparagraph (A)(i) shall
not be presumed to be correct, and
``(II) the plan sponsor shall have
the burden to establish, by a
preponderance of the evidence, each and
every element of the claim for
withdrawal liability.
``(ii) Procedure.--Notwithstanding section
4219(c) and section 4221(d) of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1399(c) and 1401(d)), if an employer
contests the plan sponsor's determination under
subparagraph (A)(i) through an arbitration
proceeding pursuant to section 4221(a) of such
Act (29 U.S.C. 1401(a)), or through a claim
brought in a court of competent jurisdiction,
the employer shall not be obligated to make any
withdrawal liability payments until a final
decision in the arbitration, or in court,
upholds the plan sponsor's determination.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall
apply to any employer that receives a notification under section
4219(b)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1399(b)(1)) after October 31, 2003.
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